Leela in the Past
by smileyjill2002
Summary: Leela is shot through a wormhole created by a time machine. Now she's in our 21st century world, in Demon World, Japan. It is here where she meets Hiei.
1. Chapter 1

"Good news, everyone. I've invented a time machine."

"Where is this time machine you speak of?" Fry asks the professor. He scans the office with his eyes. "What does it look like?"

"It's not in here, you dope. To the hanger, everyone. I left it next to the Planet Express ship."

"I was just in there, I didn't see jack. I'm taking bets on the Professor's bluff."

"Bender, you don't gamble on a bluff," scolds Leela, "You'll just pawn the money for booze and hookerbots."

In the hanger, the co-workers gather around Farnsworth. He's standing next to a sheet of cloth that appears to be covering up a hover-car. "Behold, everyone." He unveils the cloth.

"Professor, that's just a hover-car. You didn't invent that."

"No, Fry, but it's in the car. See in the dashboard, it's a flux-capacitor. I saw it in a movie once. It allows you to travel through time itself."

"Wouldn't time traveling tear holds in the space-time continuum?" Leela questions.

"I don't know. What does it matter though, right?"

"Can I drive it, Professor?" asks Fry.

"Good news, I'm giving it to you. Now you can go home. Back to the 21st century."

"Whoo-hoo, I'm so there. I can see mom and dad again. I'll see Seymour again. I miss him. As soon as I get my stuff, I'll be ready to go."

Farnsworth smiles, "You don't need to. Everything you need is in the glove compartment. A laser gun, translator glasses, a jet pack; you're good to go."

"Hey Fry, do you mind if I take your car out for a spin?"

"Sure, Leela, you can test it first. Is that alright?"

"Yes, but be careful, if the car goes to exactly 90 mph, then the capacitor will switch on, and you'll be hurled through time instead."

Leela slips into the car and starts the engine. She notices the dashboard counter reading 5-1-2007. "What's this weird language on the panel next to the counter?"

"Oh that's just Japanese. I got the car from Tokyo. The Japanese gave it to me after I helped them defeat Godzilla's great grandson a hundred years ago."

Leela pulls the steering wheel and the car lifts straight up through the uncovered hanger. She flies the car through the streets.

"Wow, this car handles nicely. Fry shouldn't have any trouble getting home."

She flies the car around New New York, when she notices the speed of the car increasing. "Hey wait, I'm not trying to make you fly this fast, car. Please drop your speed."

"Why's that, Leela?" says a feminine voice from the car.

"You can't go any faster than 90."

"Oh yes I can."

The car speeds to the 90-mile mark. "Don't go this fast, car. Please stop."

The car refuses to obey Leela and flies to 90. Suddenly a blue light engulfs the hover-car and Leela is blasted through an instant wormhole. The car juts foreword through, flying erratically. Then just as quickly as the blue light engulfed, it quickly disintegrates. She finds the car crashing through a dense forest with a crimson sky looming overhead. All she can do at this point is hold onto the steering wheel and scream.

"Car, slow down. You're going too fast. We're going to crash into the ground. Car, are you awake?" She looks at the dashboard to find it blank. Looking out the window, she catches a black flash dashing through the trees around her. Finally the car comes to stop and lands harshly on the ground.

"Oh thank goodness, I thought I was going to die." She reaches for the door handle, when a strange figure appears instantly in front of the car. He glances at her, looking into her eye. His hair was black and sleeked back. He gazes at her through the shatterproof glass.

"Who are you, Miss?" he asks.

At first she doesn't say anything, just studies his appearance. Suddenly her eye opens wide. "Hey you look familiar, have we met somewhere?"

"Dunno. Maybe we did; though I've never seen you before."

She studies his face and notices three eyes on it. "Hey yeah, oh my goodness it is you."

"Uh, you know me? Did you see me at a tournament?"

"I guess that's what you can call it. It was last year at the Space Olympics. Yeah, you came in second place at the track meet. McLark Trilo it was, from the planet, Triclopicous 9."

"Lady, how dare you speak to Master like that, show some…" blurts an angry toad mutant.

"Kaeru! You'd better shut that mouth of yours before I shut it. She doesn't know who I really am or who you are."

Leela climbs out of the car and opens the glove compartment. She removes the items, intended for Fry, and carries them on her back.

"That bag is small, but it's got so much stuff," observes McLark, "Let's get going, before low-class demons show up." Leela straps the jetpack across her back and turns on the power. "What about your vessel?"

"No worries." She opens her wrist jack-lo-mater and presses a button. "The car has camouflage and now it looks like a bush." With that she follows McLark through the trees with her jetpack.

"Yeah, where am I anyways? Is this still Earth? I've never seen a sky colored like this. And these tree leaves are brown. It looks like Triclopicous. Fry, Bender, and I were there not too long ago either. The professor sent us there to bring triple eye glasses."

"No, this is Earth, it's just this is Demon World," remarks McLark.

"What, you mean the old theme park in New Jersey? Damn, that's where Beazobot lives."

"Who is Beazo…huh?"

"You know, the robot devil."

"We aren't devils, lady. We're demons. Get it straight," scolds Kaeru.

"Hey, McLark, I need to ax you."

"What do you mean ax me? You want to fight me?"

"No, I just want to ax you something. I notice you flying without a jetpack. How are you doing that?"

"By the way, it's not McLark. I'm not an alien, just a demon like you."

"I'm a mutant, not a demon. I'm Leela."

"You look like a demon, and you stink like a human. But I've never seen a human with one eye in the middle of their forehead. Why are you in these woods anyways? You half-demons are so stupid. Bet you taste good though. I have a good mind to… "

"Kaeru! What did I tell you about running your stupid mouth? See, this is why I hesitate on having you tag along on human rescues. Last time you did that, you scared the poor man so bad he went into shock and now is in a psychiatric ward at the Tokyo hospital for life."

"Why would a human be scared of you? You don't look that frightening to me."

"Leela, most humans fear the unknown. You for instance might be thought of as a demon because you have that huge eye. Most cyclopes are demons in this world."

"Where are we going anyways? We've been traveling for a few hours now."

"We're almost at Mukuro's tower. See that city over yonder, in the mountains to the east. We should reach it within the hour."

"Within the hour? My jack-lo-mater says the mountains are 100 miles away."

"Leela, we've traveled nearly 400 miles from the car, and it's only been two hours. We're making good time." The leader watches her fly as fast him. "Do you know, of all the humans we've rescued, you don't need to be carried? How do you keep up with us?

"Well McLark…"

"It's not McLark. My name is Hiei."

"Ok, well, this is a jetpack. It uses fuel cells that have a 5000-year lifespan. I can travel as fast as 100 mph, maybe more. The professor made them himself. It was meant for Fry. That car was a gift for him to travel back in time to go home. His era was the 21st century."

"Yeah, well that's where you are now. Wait did you say back in time? Where are you from?"

"I'm from New New York in the 31st century. The reason I'm not scared of you is there is a guy that looks like you. McLark is from the planet Triclopicous 9. I axed him about his eyes; he said the two eyes on either side of his nose were for diurnal purposes, for seeing during the day. The eye in his forehead was for nocturnal use, for night vision. Tell me, is that what your third eye is for, night vision?"

"No, it doesn't see in the conventional sense. That eye is a spirit eye. That's how I knew where you were, Leela. It sensed the crash and saw you, long before you even saw me. It senses spirit energy coming off of someone, even if the energy is very faint."

"That's just like what my jack-lo-mater can do. It senses the presence of a person approaching. It sensed you and that toad guy. It shows you as a little yellow dot and Kaeru a little green dot. It has GPS tracking. That's how it senses where your tower is."

The group reaches the grounds outside the city. "You've got a huge city. I think it's bigger than back at home."

"It's 1000 kilometers. At the center is her tower. She used to be a king and this was her domain."

"A female king? I like that. No offense but men can be denser than mud. You put a man in charge and they add more problems and don't solve the ones they started out with."

"I know men can be dumb. One of my best friends is like that. He's a human like you. In his younger days, he lived with his sister and she'd set him straight."

"Did she hurt him?"

"Sometimes, she'd beat him so bad that he had welts on his face as big as my fist."

"Ooh, I like that," Leela smiles, just imagining how to torture Zapp Branaggan the next time he tried to make his moves on her.

"We're here at the tower."

"Wow, that's a huge place, like the size of the Empire State Building. I'm impressed. You live here though?"

"This is Mukuro's Tower. She allows me to stay here. I don't own this place. The main floor is where we take humans like you to be examined and have their memories erased. We won't erase yours since you don't fear us."

"Is there any place to freshen up? I'm tired from the trip and I have to go to the bathroom."

"Sure, there's a lounge area through the foyer and on the right. It's just like a human bathroom complete with a shower."

As she walks off and shuts the door, the demons talk among themselves. "That's a strange human. I don't think I've seen one that brave of us. It's like she's comfortable around here. Maybe she just stinks of human because she's been around them too long."

A lizard demon peers up at Hiei with distrust in his eyes. "What are you going to do with her? Can I eat her if you don't want her?"

"Tokage, no, she's not food. She's just not from this era. I don't know how to get her home, since it's 1000 years in the future on the human side. Besides you know someone in the human world who'd be all over you if you harmed any humans. All he'd have to do is point his finger and fry your ass."

"Can't help it, Master, she looks so juicy. He doesn't even know about her at all. Just one taste, please."

"Tokage, your little 'tastes' make you eat the human. If he doesn't know about her, I already do and I'd kill you before you even get one of your slimy claws on her."

Leela opens the door again and walks into the middle of the conversation. "Are you talking about food or something?"

"Food, yeah just about it."

"I've got 50 Earth dollars with me. Maybe we can eat somewhere."

"Well, Miss Leela, how do you feel about Ramen?" Hiei offers.

"Aren't you a nice triclops? I barely know you and you want to eat out with me. Not even Sean, when we first met, asked me out. He was put off by my eye."

She notices just the two of them walking to the Ramen Shop. "Where are your friends? They were saying they were hungry too."

"They aren't my friends, they just work for me. Besides their idea of food was you. They eat humans. There's a shop for their needs too. They are stocked with soulless humans. Zombies if you want to get technical."

"You're world isn't that dissimilar than mine. New New York has humans like that for food. We've got to serve customers from other planets."

"We're here. Do you know how to read Japanese?"

"No, but I've got glasses that can." She pulls the pair of specially made cycloptic glasses made for translating, from the pocket on her pants and places them on her face. "This allows me to translate alien text easily." "Glasses, set mode for translating Japanese into English now."

"Confirmed and ready."

"Hiei, I see you've got a lovely lady with you," smiles an old woman.

'She looks like Mom from Mom's Friendly Robot Co. but has a sweeter sense about her,' thinks Leela, to herself. "Ma'am, how's the beef Ramen here?"

"The best, my dear. Tell me, are you from Demon World?"

"No, I'm not from here. My hover-car crashed here about 500 miles away."

"Hover-car? What's that? Never heard of one of those. I know what cars are. Three of Master Hiei's friends own them. But they don't hover."

"Anita-chan, she's not from this time period. She's got gadgets I've never seen before. When Kaeru and I picked her up on today's human rescue, she came fully stocked with that thing on her wrist and this jetpack. Normally we have to carry humans, but she flew all by herself."

"I've had practice with the jetpack, which by the way, ma'am, do you have any alcohol with you, like beer or malt liquor?"

"Yes, but why do you need it? Are you a heavy drinker?"

"The alcohol isn't for me, the fuel cells in my jack-lo-mater wristband and the jetpacks need the alcohol to function. The cells have a 5000-year lifespan, but the fuel needs to be replenished every once in awhile."

"Sure thing, dear. By the way, your food is ready. Hiei, your usual."

"I didn't say anything for me."

"I know, but you always order the same thing, especially when you have a guest with you."

Leela snaps a pair of chopsticks in half and blows the steam off the food. "Wow, you're from New York, right? That's a city in America."

"New New York, and yeah it's in the United States of Earth."

"Here in the 21st century, we call that America. From what I know about Americans is they don't use chopsticks to eat, but a fork."

"That's true, but when Planet Express has to deliver a package to Topar 11, and their king insists you eat with him, you'd better know how to use chopsticks. Fry kept poking himself in the eye and Bender threw them into the king's portrait like darts. The king forced all three of us to do serious chopsticks training for five months. Fry still pokes himself in the eye and Bender gives up and eats the sticks."

"Oh gosh," Hiei laughs at her story, "you've got human friends who do that stuff?"

"Fry's human but Bender isn't. He's a robot. The 31st century is filled with robots, and they live and work among us humans. Also living on Earth are aliens from other worlds. When I first saw Hiei, I thought he was either a sewer mutant like me, or an alien from another planet. They just live here on Earth, just like some Earthicans live in space on other planets."

"Jack-lo-mater full," the wristband announces.

"Jetpack full and ready," the jetpack also announces.

"You're ready to leave already, Leela, but we just got here."

"That's just my devices talking," she chuckles, "I'm in no rush to head home or anything. They are just telling me they are ready. Robots say that when their fuel tanks are full. Robots have to drink to keep functioning. Professor Farnsworth made them that way."

"One type of robots he made was a bending robot. One of my co-workers is one. Bender loves drinking too much. He's also a lazy, good-for-nothing machine. He loves to gamble and sleep with fembots. He loves to cook, but like any robot, he lacks a sense of taste. He loves to cheat, steal, and extort for money."

"He sounds like a fun robot, this Bender. I'd like to meet him someday. I'm starting to like your world already, Leela. Maybe we wouldn't have to be isolated here in Demon World."

"You're not isolated, Hiei. You can come and go as you please. Besides isn't the barrier down?"

"I've got other reasons for staying."

"Right, how is Lady Mukuro these days? I never see her anymore, not since Hiro's birth."

A sad glaze comes over Hiei's face, "Not good. I think the birth has put such a strain on her body that she's probably not going to last much longer."

"Who is this Mukuro you speak of?"

"She's another demon. She used to be one of the three kings here. Ten years ago, the barrier dividing this world and the human world was brought down due to a martial arts tournament. One of these king's heirs pushed for an agreement for bringing it down and for a king to be decided every three years in a battle. You're in luck, Leela, because this term I won the title."

"Who's Hiro?"

"He's our son. He was born five weeks ago."

"Ah, how cute," Leela chimes with delight, "Can I see him?"

"He's in human world right now with my sister. Mukuro is having enough trouble as it is just getting around. I think the birth was too much for her." His eyes start to droop the more he talks about the woman.

"It's okay, I don't need to know everything. I still want to see that baby. I love looking at babies."

"If you want, I can take you to see him. I'm crossing over there anyways, got to meet a friend there for lunch tomorrow. He's really a good guy to meet, if you don't mind meeting at a hospital cafeteria."

"I've met people in worse places. How about meeting a client for dinner on a worm planet. They served me live worms in my salad, calling it a delicacy."

"Eww," Anita says, scrunching her face.

"Yeah," Hiei sticks his tongue out, "we don't do that here. Some demons like worms, but not me. This ramen was good, thanks Anita-chan." He bows in her direction. "Leela, do you want to stay at my place tonight?"

"Thank you. I thought you said you don't have a place. Don't you stay at that tower?"

"I've got my own place. I stay at the tower sometimes but I do have a cave not to far from here. It's got room and is very comfortable. The inside is all furnished and has cable and plumbing."

"That sounds like a nice place. Is it close by because I'm beat?"

"Do you see that cave on the ledge of that western plateau, just past the tower?" he points to the area past the tower.

"Yes, but I was hoping for it to be closer." "Jetpack, can you get me up there?"

"Get up there yourself. What do I look like, your slave?"

"Ugh, that's the one thing I hate about robots. They are lazy and don't want to work. I gave you booze, what more do you need?"

"Do you need a lift up there?"

"I think I can manage. I guess I'll just climb up to your place here." She starts to walk from the ramen shop and stumbles with every other step.

"Here, let me carry you up there. That distance is no big deal for me. Hey think of it as a gesture of a gentleman helping a beautiful damsel in distress." He scoops down and picks her up off her feet. He cradles her gently in his arms. "You know for your size, you're light as a feather."

"Wow thanks, what a nice triclops you are. Nobody from the first time they met me has said that. Not even Fry." She feels her eye become heavy like lead. "I just wha… want to…" Finally her eye closes and she falls asleep in his arms.

Swiftly, he leaps and carries her to the ledge and enters the cave. Inside, he walks through quietly, carrying her body to a bedroom near the back of the cave. He lays her on a soft down bed. He pulls her boots off her feet and sets them against a wall. She slips her wristband off and sets it on a nightstand beside the bed, with her eye still closed.

"Thank you, Fry," she whispers, mistaking Hiei in her sleep for him. He says nothing as he covers her up in a nice warm blanket.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mm… thank you kissing me to wake up, Nibbler. Just like you do every morning," Leela yawns and stretches, as she opens her eye. She sees a blurry figure of an animal licking her face. Then her eye focuses and she sees a small red fox on her chest with its golden eyes staring at her. "Who are you?"

The fox pants and smiles at her with its mouth open. She sits up and starts petting him. "What's your name, little fox?"

"His name is Tsume."

"Well morning, Summy?"

"Naw, it's Tsume with a T. His name is spelled T-S-U-M-E."

"Is he a pet of yours?"

"No, he's just a fox demon that comes to visit me in the mornings. Sometimes it's difficult to tell if it's morning in this cave, so he likes to come up here and wake me. He must have smelled you in this room and wanted to wake you too."

"Eek, I slept in my clothes. If I knew I was going back to Fry's time, I would have brought my nighty and a new change of clothes."

"May I come in?"

"Sure Hiei, it's not like I'm underdressed for company. Sorry I've got your bed here. Were you forced to sleep on the couch?"

"No, I've got a room next door to this one. This is just a guestroom. I've got a closet in here that the wife of my best friend uses when they come for a visit. Some of her clothes are still in here. I think she's your size, too."

"I'm an 8," Leela blushes, still sitting in the bed.

"So is she. Then that would be perfect for you. There's a bathroom in this room too. It's a full bath, with a shower tub, toilet, and sink. You can freshen up in there. The shower maybe a little chilly at first; you'll need to turn the hot water valve on first and let it run for a few minutes, then gradually turn the cold on."

"I think I've got it, sir. Thank you for being so sweet. When I got flung back to this time period, I wasn't expecting such warm hospitality. McLark's people weren't this kind. His king was even rude to me. He laughed at my eye and ordered his followers to do the same."

"I'm not going to laugh at you. You've got such a pretty face as it is. Well I'll get out of here and let you get ready for the day." He steps out of the room and waits for her to enter and close the bathroom door. She undresses and turns the shower on. He waits until she has stepped in and pulls the shower curtain close.

"We're going into Human World and I want to introduce you to a couple of my friends. One I think you'll like. She's a sweet old lady who runs a temple. She maybe in her late 80's, but she's as strong as an ox."

"What about the other friend?"

"We'll meet him at noon, that's when his morning shift ends at the hospital and he's free for lunch."

"He's a doctor? So is one of my friends."

"Oh really, is he a fox demon too?"

"No, but he is an animal. Dr. Zoidberg is an alien lobster who works at Planet Express as the general physician."

"What do you do there?"

"I'm a spaceship captain. Professor Farnsworth owns the company. He gave me the career chip to be the captain of the spaceship he designed."

"Wow, he sounds neat. You say he designed the jetpack and that flying car."

"He didn't design the car. He got the car as a gift for killing Godzilla the 3rd. The car came from Tokyo."

"Here in Tokyo? Maybe it came from your time and landed here because of that."

"Are you saying this is Tokyo?"

"Right here isn't, but that's where we are headed to."

Leela turns the shower off and steps out, wrapping a towel around her naked body. Hiei steps out of the room and closes the door. After a few minutes, the door opens and Leela walks out wearing a periwinkle t-shirt and a pair of black pants. She slips her Jack-lo-mater on her wrist and searches the room for her boots.

"Where did my boots and jetpack go?"

"I set them near the entrance. Here Japan, it's a custom to take your shoes off before entering someone's house. You were so tired that I put them there myself."

"What is that white thing around your face?"

"It's a headband. When I go into the Human World, I have to wear it to make people think I look just like them."

"I don't have anything like that. What about for my eye?"

"You don't need to worry. I don't think people will care about that. There are cyclopes that venture into their world and nobody minds it. Look as long as you don't cause trouble, you'll be accepted. Some people, especially the teenaged humans might even think you look cool."

She follows him to the entrance and finds her boots and jetpack. She takes the money out of the pocket on one of the boots and stuffs it in her pants pocket. She slips the boots on her feet and the jetpack on her shoulders.

"We'll take off from here and head south to the border. It's only 150 miles away from here. We should reach it by air in thirty minutes."

She nods and the pair takes off from the entrance. He watches her movements, surprised to see her fly as quickly as him through the trees and across the land. They fly across the border and enter a patch of forest on the human side. They land on a vast plateau and view a glorious temple. Leela slips off her jetpack and folds it tightly to fit into her pocket.

"How do you do that?"

"These jetpacks are very versatile. They can be made to fold into a pocket. Then when I need to use it, I just take it back out and it's ready for flight." She pans around the area, gazing at the surrounding temple.

"Who goes there?" calls out a shriveled voice, "I feel the presence of a human and a demon."

"It's just me, old lady."

Leela watches the door to the main building slide open and sees a short gray-hair woman stand with a red tunic and white-cuffed pants. "Who are you, young lady?"

"My name is Turonga Leela, but friends just call me Leela. You are?" she extends her hand out.

The woman smiles at her, "You must be from America. In this country, we bow."

"Sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm new here."

"Naw, you're fine. It's just you have a different custom for greeting people. In Japan, bowing is just one of ours."

The woman steps aside and shows her the way in. "Please take your shoes off. That's another one of our customs here, especially when entering a temple."

"Aren't you coming in too, Hiei? You escorted me here. Aren't you friends with her?"

"I am, but I'm sensing another human who's crossed the border. I'm wondering if some of the demons on the wanted list are luring them across. Day before yesterday, there were at least two humans across the border, plus I had to kill a trouble maker yesterday, before I saw you."

"That's becoming a problem," sighs the old woman, "I had to kill at least two demons myself before they caused more trouble."

"Maybe I can help you out. I've got a proton gun on my belt here. I always keep one with me for protection."

"Is it good for shooting demons? Maybe you can help the old woman out this morning."

Leela watches him dash away. "Wow, he's fast. And he just moves like that without any robots or machines. Just by his body alone. I don't know any aliens who can move like that."

"He is a demon, and ones like him can move that fast. There is one more who lives on this side who can move fast too. He's a doctor at one of the hospitals in town."

Leela pans over the room with her eye. "This is an amazing place you've got here. It's so big and beautiful. Certainly looks way better than the Robot Temple. Do you own this place?"

"Thank you, yes, I own the whole grounds. I train fighters here and worship Buddha here. You see this giant gold statue, that's him."

"Wow, it's amazing. You must be rich to own all of this. Even I don't have that much money."

"I inherited this place from my father who trained me here. It's been in my family for centuries."

"So you train fighters, huh. What sort of training?"

"Martial arts, mostly. I did have a student one time who I had to train for his spirit energy."

"What's that? Some sort of special move."

"Something like that. Some people are gifted with moving objects or killing opponents with telekinesis. The guy I taught was training himself to use it like his primary weapon. He still uses it to this day to kill demons that stray into human territory and terrorize people."

"I like that idea. I've had problems like that with alien-pig terrorists. They came to destroy parts of New New York and I blasted them with my gun and fought against their leader. Fry fought with me, but got caked in mud when one of the pigs shot his scum gun at him. Bender was helping us to kill the pigs, but got his head stuck the side of the Planet Express building. Zoidberg is such a coward; he was hiding from the pigs. Zapp led the charge, but ugh, he kept flirting with me instead of shooting a pig."

"Oh my, you've got such a fascinating story. Where are you from?"

"New New York. I'm from the 31st century."

"Wow, the 31st, seriously? How did you end up back here in the 21st century?"

"The Professor invented a time machine intended for Fry, but I accidentally got sent back here instead."

"Are you hungry, my dear? I've got rice and some eggs."

"Yes, but I hate to be a burden ma'am. I don't want to go to all the trouble of fixing something for me."

"Nonsense. I haven't had breakfast either. I can just heat up the rice and scramble the eggs. Do you like green tea?"

"Oh ma'am, you're too kind."

"The name's Genkai. You can just call me that."

"Leela, alert, I sense the presence of someone coming," announces the Jack-lo-mater. Leela pulls out her gun and braces herself as the door slides open.

Suddenly she comes face to face to a red-haired man. She jumps back with a start. "Gsh, oh, who are you? You scared me, mister."

"Oh my gosh, it's a monster! What's with that eye of yours?"

"Nice to see you too, ass."

"Wait aren't you one of those rouge demons from the other side?"

"I'm not a demon, I'm a mutant. I'm not from here."

"Why are you wearing my sister's clothes?"

"I slept in my clothes last night and I'm just borrowing them. Hiei is letting me wear them."

"You know him? But how and why? I mean of anyone I know, why him?"

"Hey, he's a nice guy. I met him when my time machine got stuck in the woods. He found me and brought me to his place."

"You're staying with him last night? So you are a demon."

"I'm a mutant. I'm human just like you."

"But humans don't have one eye, only demons do."

"Ugh, you're starting to sound like Fry when I first met him. At the time I thought I was an alien. But when I met my parents and found out I was a mutant. I'm no different from you. I'm just a human. Hey wait, maybe you know him."

"Know who?"

"Fry. He's from the 20th century. Right now he's frozen in a cryogenics lab in Old New York. His full name is Philip J. Fry."

"Fry huh? Nope, never heard of him. If he's from America, then no wonder. I've never left Japan, I was born here and never seen any continent country, except China. I've spent time there. I've always wanted to see what the U.S is like. Maybe someday, when my daughter is a little older and my wife can travel. Yuki is still an infant though. We've also got our nephew saying with us, Hiro."

"You have Hiro? Hiei's son he talked about. And at five weeks, he sounds so cute. Does he look like father? I've seen baby triclopes before, but oh they are so cute when they look like their parents."

"What's a triclops?"

"Someone with three eyes on their face. There's a planet with a race of these people. That's why the planet is called Triclopicous 9."

"Hiei's not an alien, he's a demon. That third eye is fake. He had that thing installed."

"Oh dear, and I've been calling him triclops the whole time. I had no idea that wasn't natural. Hope I didn't offend him after he was so nice to me."

"He's not offended. If he allowed you to stay at his home, it probably means he likes you. What else did he do?"

"Just treated me to dinner. We had ramen."

"You ate ramen together? He never does that with a human. He must like you then. Treating a girl to ramen here is like taking her out on a date. That's the sign that a guy really likes a girl."

"Wait, he's dating me? But isn't he married?"

"Married?"

"Yeah, to that Muko…Muku…Moro."

"Mukuro, no. They aren't married. They just have a son together. She was never really into him all that much. It used to be that he loved her, but she still distrusts men in general, and he's no exception."

"I was married once, but Fry some how tricked me into it. Now we're divorced. We still love each other, but I just never got back with him. Now here I am stuck in his era and he's stuck in mine. Maybe I shouldn't have taken the hover-car. If I hadn't done that, I'd still be in the 31st century. Now we'll never see each other again." Leela's eye fills with tears.

"Hey, come on now. It's going to be okay. Don't cry, Miss. I'm sure you'll find your way home."

"It's Leela and I don't know I can. It's 1000 years in the future. Everyone I know won't be born yet."

"Just have faith, Leela. That why I came up here. You see that statue. Buddha is the knower of all that is peaceful and true. He tells us to not give up hope in troubled times, he tells us that all of life is made great, and when our time comes, all of our good deeds will be rewarded in heaven. I come to this temple every morning and worship him."

"Breakfast is ready, Leela. Kazuma, I heard you out here being rude to my guest. She's no demon. She's a future girl. I guess in the future, some humans evolve to have just one eye."

"If you live in the sewers, like my parents, you do. Both of them have one eye."

"You live in the sewers? Are you that poor?" replies Kazuma in a startled voice.

"I've got an apartment in New New York. Most mutants aren't allowed on the surface. I'm up there because I look mostly human except for my eye."

Leela notices a familiar black streak zip across the ground. "Hey, how did that rescue go? That human you sensed."

"It wasn't that the man just wandered in, he was taken there by a demon on the wanted list. It was a wolf demon and he had captured the human and was about to eat him for breakfast. I sliced up the wolf and had to erase the guy's memory. This crap is getting old. There are too many scumbags who deliberately break the Demon World laws and hunt humans. We have bars to satisfy a man-eating demon's hunger and most demons that eat human meat go for those. However, we do have known demons on the wanted list that regularly disobey the laws and wreak havoc on humans and kill their victims."

"That's just, bleck," Leela closes her eye and shakes her head rapidly, "Why do you talk so casually about humans like prey animals? I don't understand you people. I thought there were no cannibals in this time period."

"I'm a demon, but I too find the act disgusting. That's why we're meeting that doctor friend I told you about for lunch today. He's been bothered by what's been going on and he fears for the safety of his kids. I feel like the barrier was taken down too quickly and needs to be raised again. But even if we did raise it again, that wouldn't solve the problem."

"Have you tried a force field? It worked for the mouse-ka-trons to keep the snake people away."

"We don't have the resources for that here. We've tried a spirit barrier, but some crafty demons break that down and sneak across anyways," the old woman replies, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry I'm making you skip breakfast after you made it. It must have gotten cold."

"Leela, you're a worry wart. It's still hot. Here." The woman hands her a rice ball. "Eat that for keeping your strength up."

"Mm… this is good. This thing is very sweet. So are you, ma'am."

"It's called a rice ball. It's an old Japanese treat."

"Well thank you ma'am. I appreciate your hospitality," Leela steps back into her boots and removes the jetpack from her pocket. It quickly unfolds and announces its readiness for use. Leela looks at the time on her wristband and reads 1135. "Oh my goodness, Hiei, we're going to be late for your meeting with your friend."

"Would you relax? By flight, it's not that far at all. We should get there in less than 10 minutes."

"Is that guy coming too?"

"No, he's got martial arts class at the temple. Genkai's getting old and she likes having another body there to help teach." The two take off from the temple area and zoom into the city. "You see that long brown and white building to the right of us. That's the hospital my friend works at."

"Yes, I can see the ambulances parked around the back and one at the entrance. That has to be it." The pair spots a place free of people and land on the sidewalk next to the building. They walk towards the entrance and automatic doors open for them. They enter a grand lobby and see the front desk to the far right of the doors.

"He told me to meet him here in the lobby, just hang tight."

The pair finds an arrangement of chairs in the carpeted corner aligning the wall of the doors on their left. High in the corner of the wall and an adjoined wall blares a TV with kanji text on the screen and no sound.

"Hi there, thank you for stopping by," comes a light masculine voice behind Leela's head. She turns to see a man with long flowing hair dressed in a long white jacket. "Well, who is this lovely girl you have with you?"

"Oh hi, Doc, I've heard a little bit about you from my friend here." She starts to reach her hand out, then pulls it back. "I'm sorry, I was told you bow in this country." She bows to him.

The man chuckles at her a bit, and greets her in the same manner. "That's alright ma'am, you don't have to be so formal to me. Obviously you're not Japanese. If I had to guess, you're from the U.S. My wife and I travel there sometimes. I was there last week on business. I had to give a speech on herbal medicines for cancer treatment alternatives. What part of the U.S. are you from?"

"New New York."

"Ah yes, that's where the speech was. Lovely city you have. After I arrived there, I had to tour it. The taxis though, ugh, I say something has do be done about those awful things. And the prices are way too high."

Leela rolls her eye, "Tell me about it. I hate the cabs. I had a robot driver in one cab, he over priced the ride for Fry and me, just to go to the Madison Cube Gardens. And still the Mets lost horribly in blurnsball that day. It was to the Desert Cyclones, 25-0."

"Blurnsball? What's that? I've heard of baseball. Our country has that. Took my son to a ball game, yesterday."

"It's an upgraded version to baseball. The ball stays on an elastic cord and stretches when thrown and hit. I've played it before, but I stink at the game. One of my problems is depth perception. Because of eye, I can't focus in on a moving target."

"Oh and you've come to me for help."

"Ha, ha." "Hiei, you're friend's a real jerk-wad. I deal with his type on a regular basis."

"What?"

"Yeah, he seems nice on the surface, but damn."

"I'm just fooling with you ma'am. You're definitely not from here. You take things seriously."

"I can't help it. I can't tell you how many times I've been put down and laughed at because of my eye. The children at the Orphanarium would always pick on me for that. I've been treated like a virus-fly by people on the streets."

"What's your name?"

"Leela. Turonga Leela, sir. And you are…can't read your name tag."

"If you're from America, I guess you wouldn't be able to read kanji. It says Minamino on the tag here."

"That's a long name, sir, for just a couple of symbols."

"Yeah but that's how the writing system is in this country. I'm not going to go into detail. I've been reading it my whole life like you've been reading English. You want to know something," the doctor leans in closer to her and whispers, "I like your newspapers better. You Americans make writing so easy to read and pronounce."

"Oh sorry I'm taking up your time from both you gentlemen, but didn't you say there's something wrong with the border?"

"Of course, the border. Yeah we've got issues with that. There needs to be control along the border. At first I thought you were one of the rouge demons, but you're clearly not a demon. I can sense these things about people. I'm a demon myself, but I'm not a man-eater. I am especially disturbed by the number of sightings recently."


	3. Chapter 3

The three walk down the hall from the lobby to the cafeteria. "Say, Doc, how long has your problem with these trouble-makers been going on?"

"We've started having problems for a few months now. My friends and I have been on our guards since last November. It used to be just a handful of demons causing problems. But now it seems we've got several demons showing up from the wanted list in droves. So far my wife and I have been successful at defending our home, but we don't know how long we can hold out. Being on guard 24/7 wears even an upper-class demon like me out."

"Ugh, you're telling me. Just this week alone, I had to dispense with nine demons. Just yesterday, before I found Ms. Leela here, I had to kill a pest stalking this defenseless kid walking home from that school Urameshi teaches at. He's been telling me he's been making kids take the bus. He's just one man defending his area, but he can only do so much. He's lost at least ten kids just this month."

"They kill children? What kind of sick monsters would kill innocent children? How do they do that without getting caught?"

"Some of these demons use stealth and blend in with the crowd. Sometimes they pretend to be children themselves. They lure the kids to unsafe areas then snag them. I saw a demon doing this outside the hospital here. I had to kill him on the spot before he caused any more trouble. Luckily nobody was around to see me do it."

"Why are you trying to hide the matter from the public? Don't you want the police involved? Isn't it their job to protect civilians?"

"Most humans don't have spirit powers. The police can't help because they are only used to dealing with human criminals. Often times when a normal human sees one of these demons, there is not much they can do. Running from some demons is like running from a dog on the prowl. The demons will chase the human into a bad area, then they corner him in an alley somewhere, capture him, and at least one or two demons will kill him and feast on his body. Some demons kill on the spot. Others like torture and drag the human back alive and injure him in the transport. I caught a pack on the prowl once and had to slash out with my whip. The victim was severely injured in the attack and later died from his injuries."

"Can I help you guys out in someway? I've had to deal with troublesome aliens before. I've had to kill a pack of wolf-a-zoids stalking Fry. They wanted to eat him, but I came in with my gun and blasted their hides. Then I met the leader and kicked his ass to the curb. He got back up and started biting at me and I killed him."

"Maybe you can help. It sounds to me like you've had experience. How good are you at hand-to-hand?"

"I train everyday with hand-to-hand, usually with another co-worker, Amy. I've been trained in martial arts like kung-fu and karate."

"That does sound good. Maybe you can show me later. Here I thought you were some useless bimbo I found in the woods."

"Hey listen here, chump, how about I clean your ass? This gun can blow you to bits if I let it. You want to see what I did to that space wolf?"

"Whoa, now that's the first time you've been taken down a peg by a human girl, Hiei."

"Shut up. Your wife does the same thing and you know it. She's human too, but what a tough cookie. She talks trash as well as Leela can, apparently."

"I'm starting to like her already. When can I meet her, Doc?"

"Tonight. There's a meeting at the temple about the border problem. Is 6:30 good for you? Leela, you're welcome to join us if you like. Maybe your futuristic views can help us. What century did you say you're from?"

"The 31st."

"Maybe you can help us out. I know Urameshi's into futuristic sci-fi stuff and so is his wife. He's got a computer game that he kills aliens. He loves it. It's an Eye-Toy game, so it's like he's fighting for real. I know he'd love to hear your input, Leela."

"Is it formal, do I need to dress nice for it? If it is, I've got money with me."

"No, but dress warmly. I've noticed you've got Shiz's shirt on. Not that it matters; she's got so many clothes. But I think there's a nice long-sleeve shirt that might fit you. It'd work great at the temple to keep you warm. It's back in the same closet you got that shirt from."

"Are you sure it's all right? I don't want to make her mad I'm wearing her stuff."

"Shit, you won't make her mad. She's got more clothes than a Barbie doll. I tell Shiz, she's got too many clothes. She says she knows but doesn't throw anything out. She's got to have closet full at home and at the guestroom at Hiei's. Don't ask me why, because I don't know."

"Leela, there's the presence of someone coming this way."

"What was that?" asks Minamino.

"That's my Jack-lo-mater wristband. It warns me when it senses an intruder."

"That thing is right. I sense a human too close to the border with a demon nearby. Are you ready to fly Leela?"

"Yes and I'll show you what I can do."

"You snag the human, I'll get the demon."

The two leave the hospital and Leela removes her jetpack. Immediately they dash into the sky and fly to the wooded area. Leela looks at the wristband, ordering it to find the strayed human.

"The person is a female with black hair and red dress," the wristband indicates.

"How does it know that?"

"It's more advanced than an ordinary GPS. It's so accurate that it's telling me what she's even doing. Right now she's drunk, she's staggering behind a bush, and she's peeing."

"Damn, stupid girl is making herself an easy target. She's basically inviting the demon to snatch her up. I sense her too and that demon is only a mile away from her. All urinating is going to do is draw the demon closer to her like a beacon. This one is closing in on her. You snatch the girl, I'll kill the demon."

Leela salutes and flies straight to the girl. She lands right in front of her with a stern look on her face. "Young lady, what are you doing out in these woods? You know it's dangerous."

"Hey can't you respects privacy? I couldn't hold it any longer. Does you, monster lady, thinks I want to wiz on myself?"

"That's not the issue here. Can't you read that sign? It says no trespassing. These woods are dangerous, even during the day."

"Don'ts blows a gasket. Nothings going to happen. Now if you don't mind, I want to finish."

"You're finished. You've been finished for five minutes. Now you're just sitting here with your puss exposed. Get up."

"Jus chill, Mom. I'm getting up now." She staggers up with her underpants still down around her ankles.

"Good lord. You're like a female Zapp," Leela whines and sighs, covering her eye, "Pull up your damn pants. What are you, a preschooler? How much have you been drinking?"

"I's nots drunk."

"Don't lie to me. I smell the booze on your breath. Plus I can see little flakes of vomit on your mouth. I think you need to go to the police, the hospital, or at least to your house. Where do you live?"

"I don't knows. I forget. Wait the police, no not there. They arrests me. They dones that before."

"I'm taking you to the police because if they arrested you, they'd have your I.D. and they'd have a good idea where you live." Leela grabs the girl around her waist and fires her jetpack. "Jack-lo-mater, where is the closest police station?"

"I've generated a map for you and the coordinates are five blocks east and ten blocks south. Here's the map."

"Thanks." 'That's not too far away, I can make it there and still catch up to Hiei as soon as I drop her off.'

Leela flies following the map and coordinates and finds a blue and brown square building with police cars out front. She lands on the sidewalk in front of the police station and folds her jetpack up. She walks through a revolving door with the drunken girl on her shoulders. To her right is a long booth with bulletproof glass. A female officer dressed in a brown uniform is seated at one of the desks.

"Hi, uh ma'am."

"Yes what can I do for you?" The woman looks up and gasps for a moment at Leela. "Who are you? What's with your face?"

"Never mind me. I've got this girl loitering in the woods. She's drunk and she doesn't know where her house is. I thought maybe you could help."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do."

"Can I leave her here with you? I'm meeting someone. I need to see if he needs my help."

"Sure you may. You've got to meet your boyfriend, I can understand."

Leela's cheeks blush bright red, "He's just a friend. I've only met him yesterday."

Leela walks back out the revolving door and takes her jetpack out. She takes flight and traces the map back to the woods. She flies further from the area where she found the girl. 'Where is he? My boyfriend, yeah right. Mine is Fry, who's still in the 31st century. I mean I don't have any feelings for Hiei. That's impossible.'

Her mind keeps spinning like a robot on an infinite loop, while she flies carelessly past her target.

"Leela, he's back a mile. Turn around."

"Thanks." She turns and sees streaks of black dodge through the trees. She pulls out her gun, and follows the movements. She catches Hiei's eyes, "What's going on? I've got two unfamiliar blips on my wrist band."

"There were five demons here. I've killed three. However these things are fast, I'm having trouble with keeping up. These demons are persistent and aren't easy to catch."

"Wait I see one. He's right behind you. He's closing in. There locked in." Leela aims her gun and fires at a dog-faced demon. The shot hits him and the demon disintegrates.

"That's one down. Lucky shot."

"I've had practice. Damn, I see the last one. Come here, you little bastard." Leela zooms in on the fleeing demon. She locks it on target with her gun and fires again. The demon squeals and is blasted into tiny pieces.

"Damn girl! You are good. I was trying to catch up to that one, but he was just too fast, even for me."

"It doesn't matter how fast you are. This gun locks on to the target of my choosing and I can fire it on the mark."

"That's amazing technology you have. You'll be an asset. I wish Urameshi saw that. He a good shot too, but not that precise."

"Is he a police officer? What sort of sidearm does this guy wield?"

"He's not, he's a teacher. It's not what you're thinking; he doesn't wield an actual gun like you do. It's a bit hard to explain, but you might see it later. He doesn't even use weapons."

"Then what? Is it anything like telekinesis?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Leela glances at her wristband and reads 1635. "Shouldn't we get back to the cave, it's 4:35 and I need to relax a bit."

"I suppose. I need a nap anyways. That chase wore me out. What did you do with the girl?"

"Just dropped her off at the police station. She didn't remember where she lived and I figured they could find out. She said she was arrested once, so they should have a record on her."

She watches him yawn and shake himself. "Hey, do you need a lift home? I want to help you out just like you did for me last night."

"Thank you, but I think manage. It's just past these woods. The village isn't far at all by air."

"Still, you need your rest. Here, this jetpack converts into a low-flying aircraft and can withstand 500 lbs."

"Sure can't argue with Future Girl, now can I?" The pair climbs on the jet and zoom off across the border back to his village.

They arrive thirty minutes later at the mouth of the cave. Leela sets the jet down and both get off. Leela takes her boots off and saunters in. "Now I understand, we meet your friends at 6:25?"

"6:30."

"That doesn't give us much time. That's just an hour and thirty minutes from now. Takes thirty minutes just to get there."

"Naw, that's plenty of time. That's still just an hour to kill. You can freshen up, in that guestroom back there. I need a bathroom right now."

"Thanks." She strolls to the guestroom and into her bathroom. She finds a bar of soap on the sink and turns on the hot water. She rubs the soap on her hands to form a lather. She rubs it on her face and proceeds to wash it off. She finishes washing and towels off her face. Immediately after washing, she walks back into the bedroom and pulls open the closet the doctor was telling her about. She takes out a peach-and-pink blended long-sleeved shirt and places it on the bed. She removes the blue t-shirt from her body and dresses in the long-sleeved shirt. 'Wow, it fits me so well. I sure hope Doc was right; that his wife, Shiz, wouldn't mind me borrowing her clothes. Sometimes Amy lets me borrow her stuff.'

Leela walks out of the room and walks by Hiei's open room. She sees him on the bed asleep. 'Oh my, he looks just like Fry when he sleeps. So peaceful. I wish I could contact home. Tell everyone I'm all right. I know by now Fry must miss me. I wish I was there with him now.' Tears start to form in her eye. She slides her back against the wall and plants her butt on the ground. "Fry, I need you. I love you. I don't understand your time period at all. Please."

"Huh, what's the…Leela?" Hiei wakes to find her crying in the hallway.

"I miss him. Fry. I want to see him again."

Hiei walks out and stoops down at her. He holds her tight, letting her cry on his shoulders. "I swear you'll be able to go home again. I know what it's like to be forced out of your home. You say you're from an orphanage. I was orphaned too when I was a baby. When I was born, my family just threw me out without any remorse."

"I just want to see him. If I knew I was going to flung back to his time period, I would have at least said goodbye or have him come with me."

"This Fry of yours sounds like a decent guy. You talk about him so much. I see it in your face that you light up when you mention his name."


	4. Chapter 4

"Isn't it time for us to get to that meeting at that temple?" Leela asks, rubbing the tears from her eye. She looks at the wristband reading 1745. "The meeting started in forty-five minutes, time to move."

Hiei nods and stands up. He offers his hands to her and helps her onto her feet. They stride out towards the entrance and Leela steps back into her boots. She straps the jetpack on her back and readies herself for flight. The pair launches from the mouth and fly across the city into the forest.

Leela notices little streaks of light dashing across the ground all heading in the direction of the temple. "What do you make of this?" she asks, pointing out the streaks to Hiei.

"Those would be other demons. They are most likely some of the upper-classes like me."

"I thought demons weren't allowed on the human side."

"Most demons, especially from the upper classes, don't pursue humans as food. They crossover for jobs, for schooling, some just like living in human society. They are with us in trying to stop the lower classes. We're having trouble with low-level demons that just want humans for food and don't care about the laws against hunting humans."

Thunder suddenly roars in the sky and a speeding ball of white ball of light dashes out of the clouds.

"What was that ball of white in the sky? Don't tell me demons live in the sky."

"Hm? I guess that's who called the meeting tonight."

"I thought your doctor friend called it."

"No, he was just passing the message along. That light is from Spirit World."

"Is that like heaven?"

"I guess you can call it that. That's where dead souls are taken."

The pair manages to fly straight over to the temple. Upon landing on the plateau, Leela swivels her head to and fro, looking at a huge crowd standing around. She manages to walk through the crowd of demons to the temple steps. She sees a woman dressed in white with cloven hooves on her feet with antlers on her head. Standing behind her is a tall man with red hair, fox ears, and a red tail.

Leela looks around until she spots a woman about her height with long sky-blue hair worn in a ponytail just like Leela's purple hair. "Hey, Miss, who are all these people?"

"They are demons both from the human and demon side. You look like one yourself."

"I'm not a demon, I'm a humanoid mutant. My name is Turonga Leela. I was accidentally sent here from the 31st century. I arrived here yesterday."

"Oh really? Fascinating. I've never met someone from the future before. I saw you coming in from Demon World."

"I'm just staying at this guy's place. I met him yesterday. He found me on a human rescue."

"So where in the 31st century are you from?"

"New New York."

"Oh that would explain your accent and skin color. You're American."

"So are you from Demon World or Human?"

"Neither place, Spirit World is my home."

"My friend told me about that. The way it sounds, it's Heaven."

"You must be a Christian. You can call it that."

"That's what Hiei told me I can call it."

"You know him already?"

"Yeah, he's the guy I'm staying with."

The blue-haired woman looks at Leela with disbelief. She rubs her hand over her eyes.

"Miss, what's the matter?"

"By the way, you can call me Botan. Um… I just can't believe you're staying at that guy's place."

"He's a nice guy. I really like him."

"Well now he is. Leela, I've known this man my whole life, and he's a violent, cold, brash guy. He never liked humans, always thought of them as pests. I just can't believe he'd allow you, a human, to stay at his place."

"Oh is that so? Well I'm certainly used to that. I've got a robot friend like that. He hates humans. Bender wants to kill every single human on Earth. If only he'd move his shiny metal ass off the couch every once in a while."

Suddenly a whistle is blown and the crowd falls silent. Attention is turned to a man with short-brown hair, dressed in blue. "Quiet everyone. May I have your attention? Thank you all for coming to this meeting here. In a short while, we'll all enter the temple here. I know it's the Japanese custom to remove your shoes, but since there are so many of you here, Master Genkai is allowing you to wear shoes. Please don't rush right into the temple here; follow in filed lines. Be quick, but please be orderly. Keep in mind this is sacred ground and the temple is still a house of worship. So if all of you would follow me." The man slides the doors wide.

"Psst. Hey Leela, I see you're wearing Shiz's shirt. It looks good on you."

"Why thank you, Doc. I think it's pretty. I hope she doesn't mind."

"Not as long as you wash it, Hon. That's one of my favorites," whispers a brunette walking next to the red-haired man.

"Shiz, you've got so many favorites, it's hard to count."

"I know, but I love that shirt."

The group gathers around the planked floor, and watches the brown-haired man standing in the center of the floor. "Thank you all for coming, please take a seat. I'll go over the rules of discussion. If you have a comment about something and want to talk about, first raise your hand, when I point to you please stand up, state your name, and say what's on your mind. Now I know some of you are taller than seven feet. In that case you can just kneel. Everyone will see you just fine. In case you don't know my name, it's Koenma.

Now of course the topic of this meeting is about the border. I know that there have been a string of problems with that. Demons on the wanted list have been sneaking across on a regular basis and wreaking havoc on humans. I know in the past there wasn't much of a problem. It seems recently that more sightings have been cropping up and humans are being taken and eaten. This is disturbing the Human World Council and the Demon World Board as well. This as become such a problem in the recent months that it has reached the Spirit World Council and my father is quite disturbed by the problem. He figured instead of destroying the earth and innocent lives, he wants us to figure out how to solve this problem on our own.

Okay so now I'm finished with the intro into the topic here, so now I will turn the floor over to anyone here who wishes to speak. Oh, I see we have someone already. Ah, Mr. Urameshi, I was hoping to hear from you."

A man with short black hair, seated along Leela's side of the room, stands and clears his throat, "Yeah, in case you don't know me yet, I'm Yusuke Urameshi and I'd like to say I'm getting pretty fed up with having to deal with monsters that don't understand, or don't even care to obey the law we all agreed upon in the first Demon Tournament. Didn't we specifically say there wouldn't be any human hunts? So far I've lost forty students in the past four months to these bloodthirsty cretins and now I fear for the safety of my two children. My wife and I have to keep Megumi and Yoshi inside in the late afternoons and at night. We were forced to put bars on the windows to keep rouge demons from breaking in. I have to blast a demon every single night it seems. Can't I for once not have to do that, especially in our neighborhood where most people aren't spiritually aware or able to defend themselves?"

"Yes, I understand you're frustration with the demon outlaws. This situation has gotten out of hand ever since the Kikai Barrier was taken down. I'm beginning to wonder if taking that down was too soon of an idea for us."

Hiei raises his hand, as the other man takes his seat. He stands next to where Leela is sitting. "I'm Jaganshi Hiei and I'm also feeling the same way as you, Koenma. I also think the barrier was prematurely taken down. Now at the first tournament in Demon World, I didn't have a problem with it. At the time we had maybe one or two of these rouges break the law. I personally had no problem killing them myself. Six months ago is when the problems just escalated into this. Now I'm seeing demons in droves just crossing the border, sneaking into human territory, and hunting like it was the Feudal Era. I'm not ruling out putting the barrier back up, maybe that would solve the problem."

"I've thought of that idea myself, reerrecting the barrier, but then that would mean cutting off passage for most law-abiding demons and as I understand most demons like to come to the human side. There are a few that live here and have a job and a family. Usually these demons are able to blend in with the human society without becoming a problem."

The red-haired man sitting next to Leela raises his hand and stands. "Hi there. My name is Dr. Kurama Minamino and I'm going to say I'm one of those demons you're speaking of. I'm currently living on the human side because I've chosen to live here. I'm a doctor at one of the local hospitals and I've also got a wife and kids to support. I'm just as upset as Mr. Urameshi is. I too thought the human-hunt thing would be over, ever since the law was enacted. And for a while there wasn't much of a problem. But recently, I can't walk down the sidewalk in my neighborhood without running across any demonic mischief. There are a group of grade school girls who love to play basketball, next door to where my family lives and one night I spotted two wolf-demons in the tree beside the goal post and four more in the bushes beside the house. I had to act quickly and slash the troublemakers to pieces with my whip. That was just two nights ago. I'm beginning to wonder if demons on the wanted list are recruiting other demons to join them in these escapades. I feel it's driving a wedge between humans and law-abiding demons like me. I don't want these problems to go on forever. I think we need to end this bullshit once and for all, and I really don't care how it gets done."

"I don't care how it ends either, but there needs to be a solution to end these charades. I'm getting tired of sending my River Styx pilots out to retrieve dead human souls whose bodies have been devoured by these cretins."

The blue-haired woman, who Leela met earlier, stands up. "Sorry I didn't raise my hand, sir."

"That's fine. You never really obey me anyways, so I sort of expected that."

"I'm one of Koemna's pilots here. My name is Botan. I've been speaking to the other pilots recently about this problem. I'm getting pretty tired of flying down to Earth night-after-night it seems. In the last month alone, I've had to retrieve ninety human souls that were lost to these demons. That's not counting some demons that eat a human and his soul. I'd hate to think what would happen if these problems were allowed to continue and the whole human species starts to dwindle. I've been hearing from other pilots in other countries had to deal with some of these pests, but they hope that we here in Japan can solve the border thing within this country so that it doesn't become a global problem. I'd hate to think what would happen if the demons found their way to the United States. I know there are spirit detectives in that country too, but I still don't want this to become something blown out. The Americans have enough global matters to deal with."

"Yeah that's true, Botan. I've also got ties to the Vatican in Rome. The pope doesn't want this problem to turn up at his door. He wants us in Japan to deal with this matter before it becomes a global issue."

Leela hesitates at first, and then raises her hand. "Oh I see we've got a face I've never met before," Koenma chimes, "Madam, you would care to speak?"

"Yes I would. My name is Turonga Leela and I'm from the year 3000."

"Well no wonder I didn't know you. You haven't been born yet. I'm not going to ask how you ended up in the 21st century. My guess it's a long story and it's not the issue here. Sorry for my interruption, please continue."

"Thanks, sir. I'm not familiar with demons at all. I still don't know what one is exactly. But, I have to deal with aliens on a regular basis and sometimes the Earth has to deal with human-hunters too. Usually when one or a group shows up, we fight with them and kill them. Now I don't know what sort of protection you have, but we've got laser grids and tractor beams that catch aliens searching for humans to kill. Have you tried any sort of force field?"

"That's what the Kikai Barrier was. It was strung up like a net and it kept most demons at bay. The human world was safe from most demons. We did have some crafty demons worm their way through the net, but they were immediately dealt with before causing any serious trouble."

"What is this 'Wanted list' I keep hearing about? Wouldn't it be easy just to find and capture demons on this list?"

"Easier said than done. The list is a mile long and there are at least a thousand demons on the list. Just a handful has been killed off so far. The list, by the way, is the names and descriptions of known demons that break the laws and hunt humans. Most of these demons are lower class. The worst are on the zenith level. They are crafty about hiding themselves in the Human World. They'll hide in shadows and dark alleys, waiting on easy prey. They are swift and elusive and aren't easy to catch."

"Have you tried guard posts with automatic snipers along the borders? If you've got names and descriptions, can't you just spot them and kill them before they can cross the border? You could even set up some sort of motion sensory system or a GPS tracker to catch these demons in the act."

"That's not a bad idea, Leela. I do have spiritual ties working in the Japanese Military. And I've got demons training with spiritually aware humans. Right now Genkai and Kuwabara are training specialized spirit-energy wielding humans, which about half also have military training. Some people they're training are specialized in guerrilla-style warfare, some into snipering, search and rescue, and of course border security. Genkai also teaches martial arts training to those who are spiritually aware, but have no spirit powers. Your idea, Leela, is very good. Are you military trained?"

"Yes, plus I train everyday in Kung-fu and long-ranged attacks. I'm specialized in hand-to-hand. I know most ninja styles. I've also got weapons training and I'm good at sharp shooting. Hiei and I took down a few demons earlier today, and I killed two with my proton-laser gun."

"Wow, that's amazing. Maybe tomorrow you can show off your skills. I'd love to see them myself. I know Master Genkai would love to see what you could do. And I've been noticing Mr. Urameshi raising his hand again. Maybe you'll be an asset to the cause. You sound very talented."

Leela's about to sit back down when Yusuke asks her to remain standing. "I like your ideas. I've never thought of a military approach to the problem. Usually the military is human-only and they deal with global matters. Right now they are preparing incase there is a war, but I too know some folks in the military who are secretly training at the temple here and have spiritual powers as well. Some folks I've seen are quite talented. There are some students from…well where are you from, Leela?"

"I'm from New New York. I'm from the United States."

"Yeah, I could tell by your accent and skin color. I was about to say, there are some military/spirit-powered soldiers stationed here in Japan from your country. They are training here at the temple here. I've seen this one girl take down one of the rouge demons with her spirit powers and kill it. I remember her name was Kimberly and she said she was from New York City too. She's still stationed on base in Okinawa."

Koenma smiles, "Maybe a special military op could help secure the border. Since this is a matter involving demons and apparitions, I'm usually in contact with the Chaplin office. At Okinawa, Fr. Tsuko is the main Chaplin and he is the one who has recruited the soldiers to Genkai's Temple. He knows the situation is troublesome and he's wanting to help out anyway he could. I've got a meeting with him tomorrow afternoon anyway, I'm thinking about running Leela and Yusuke's ideas by him."

The tall red-haired man with fox ears raises his hand. "You've got something to add?" asks Koenma.

"Yeah, by the way my name is Ashanti. I'm from Demon World. I've got a question about the military idea and that sniper deal. Would the automatic sniper accidentally kill innocent demons like me? I know some demons cross the border everyday for food, shopping, or work. I've got a few friends who cross because they've got significant others in the human world, but I just don't like the idea of anyone getting shot at. Like tonight, we had to crossover to get to this meeting."

"I know the majority of demons use the checkpoints along the border. The checkpoints are free for crossing and you are welcome to use them. I even saw you and O'Falla cross one of them tonight on your way here. Basically the checkpoints let the Human World know you're not there to cause trouble. You've got lawful purposes to be on the human side. These demons we're having problems with don't care to use them and don't make their presence known. They know they're on the wanted list, but they continually break the laws and do as they please in Human World. The checkpoints already have security anyways. I believe it was set up by demons. The demons themselves are strong powerful A-class and S-class demons that aren't interested in humans at all. However I know the guards myself. Even though they don't care for humans, they are more angered and disgusted by the lower classes, like the ones in the Zenith class, which are causing these problems. One giant cyclops I know says he's caught and killed at least fifty of these rouges. Both he and his fellow border officer, another cyclops, are getting pretty tired of catching the outlaws and they, among others in the border squad, want a solution to the problem now before it escalates out of control."

A dog-faced demon raises his paw, "Hey Koenma, you're talking about no human-hunting, correct? My name is Arbu, and I'm a dog demon that loves human meat. I don't fancy these lowlives that break the law and hunt on the human side. I think you should just raise soulless humans or pink-fleshed zombies for food. I own a farm where I raise pink-fleshed zombies just for their meat. I sell the zombies to friends who own meat plants to clone the zombies, and then they sell them to bars and food stores in the various cities across Demon World. I know demons in other places that harvest the zombies just for themselves. These zombies are actually tastier than anything from the Human World. The humans on this side are too gamy. I've had a taste of even the fattest ones and still they were terrible."

"Arbu, this isn't about the choice of meat for man-eaters like you. What you do is legal and respectful of humans? Though the thought of eating zombies repulses me, it's not against the law. Hunting humans in their own world is against the law and these fugitives don't respect the laws and hunt like the wild animals they are."

"Gi-day mates, sorry about me not raising my hand. My name is Chuu and I think that one-eyed Sheila over there has an excellent idea about getting a military plan. I think though it should be made of a mix of humans and demons joining forces. Since we don't want to get the world involved with our problem, have some strong demons recruited to secure the border as well as those special spiritually powerful military blokes and sheilas to protect the border and set up the sensory stuff."

"You bring up an excellent point, Chuu. I think securing the border with Demon World's military, as well as the faction of human military recruits Master Genkai is training will probably work to solve the problem. I'm not saying this will be an overnight change, but maybe overtime when we start working on these proposed solutions, the problems will lessen. I must warn you it won't be easy and there will be even more urgency to keep people safe. Kurama asked me yesterday about setting up a curfew for city of Tokyo, and I think it's still an idea to suggest. He's good friends with the mayor and wants to see if the curfew idea would fly. I want to speak to him myself."

Koenma glances around the room. "Does anyone have anything else to share? I know it's getting late. Who has a watch with them?"

Leela raises her hand, "Sir, it's 8:45."

"Thank you, Leela. Can I speak with you after the meeting? Tomorrow is Thursday and I know Yusuke's got his first class at 9AM. Both he and Keiko have to be at the school though at 7AM. Kurama's shift starts at 5AM. Shizuru, I know you start work at 8AM. I know you guys have to get home. My meeting with Fr. Tsuko isn't until 1PM, but I've had a long day myself. Genkai's telling me she's tired and has a long day tomorrow. So without any more questions, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you again for coming. I think we've got the goal of the topic accomplished."

Everyone stands and Botan opens the sliding doors wide to allow the crowd to leave for home. Leela stays behind and Hiei stays with her. After awhile the three remain inside the temple.

Koenma looks at Leela with a smile on his face. He bows at her. "Thank you for coming tonight. I loved your input into our problem. Your ideas are awesome."

"Thank you, sir. I still have no idea what a demon is, but I've have to deal with aliens, robots, and mutants on a regular basis, and I just thought the concept was similar."

"Is that so? Well I guess a demon wouldn't be any different from any of those things you've mentioned. Basically demons live longer than humans, Hiei for instance is 700…"

"I'm 754 years old."

"Wow, you don't look old to me. I was thinking you were 25 or 26 years old. You certainly are handsome enough to fool me."

Hiei blushes, "Wow, that's the first time any girl has called me handsome, demon or human."

"Well why not. You're a sweet guy and I like spending time with you."

Hiei's eyes open wide. "Oh my gosh. I love this flattering, but please do that later."

"Yeah, wow, I've never heard comments about him like that either. You really aren't from around here. Well, I'm a bit confused. You say you're from the 31st century. How did you end up back here in the 21st century?"

"There is an inventor/scientist I work for. His name is Hubert Farnsworth. In the era I'm from, we have hover-cars that fly. He got one from here in Tokyo and put a flux-capacitor in it. It was meant for co-worker I really love. His name is Philip J. Fry. He was supposed to be sent back to this century instead of me. But I borrowed the car and accidentally came here and the car crashed in the woods in Demon World."

"Okay. Well maybe it wasn't an accident. My father doesn't believe that things are just accidents or mistakes. He might have brought you hear to help us out. And you seem like a woman with a good head on her shoulders. I think it was fate not an accident that you were brought here."

"Maybe it is fate, because maybe I need someone right now," Hiei sighs, looking at her, "I've told you about Mukuro. She's been sick ever since Hiro was born. She's not getting any better. One of these days…she's going to…" Tears start to form in his eyes. "I still love her, but I'm going to lose her." He falls to his knees and Leela kneels in front of him. She holds his head on her shoulders.

She whispers to Koenma that he can go on ahead. Koenma nods and walks out of the temple. She combs through Hiei's hair with her fingers, rubbing his back with her other hand. "When we met, she was a loner just like me. These evil men had made her into a slave at a very early age. She's had such a rotten life. She's hated men ever since. At first she even hated me. But during the first Demon Tournament, we started to love each other. I had hopes to marry her. We made a son together, but I think that was the last thing her body needed. The birth was so torturous for her. It practically tore her out from the inside. She's not able to do much anymore. Now she's going to die and there's nothing I can do."

Leela holds him tight, letting him sob. Her mind drift back to the realistic dream she had when the Space Bee stung her and Fry, and she thought he was dead. 'I can relate, Hiei, I've been there myself.'


	5. Chapter 5

Leela feels his tears slowly fading away, as she continues to hold Hiei in her arms. At the moment she feels the last teardrop, she feels his body fall limp in her arms like a rag doll. She carries him in her arms to the plateau, quietly closing the sliding doors behind her. She removes the jetpack from her pocket and allows it to unfold into the aircraft. She places her sleeping companion on the jet first then the two take off from the temple area and fly into air above the trees. They fly past the barrier, back into Demon World and soar low across the ground until the tower comes into sight. She looks at her fellow passenger, watching him sleep soundly, as they drift towards the cave.

As soon as they land inside the entrance, she sets the jet down and removes him from it, once again carrying him in her arms. She saunters quietly into his bedroom and lays him down, resting his head on the soft white pillows. She takes his shoes off covers a blanket over his body. She sits beside him on the carpeted floor, removing the boots from her feet. She glances at the tears still clinging to his eyes and wipes them off gently with her thumb. She softly brushes his cheeks with her fingers all the way to his chin. 'You've got such a pretty face. Your skin is so soft. You sleep so peacefully, like there isn't anything to worry about. I'll stay with you just a little longer. At least I know Fry is still alive. He's probably already found someone else. I'll stay with you for as long as you need me.' She smiles as she holds his hand. Gently she lets go and slowly backs out of the room into hers.

Early the next morning, she wakes up and prepares herself for the day. She tiptoes past Hiei's room and finds a room on the opposite wall of the cave. She finds herself in a small but fully stocked kitchen. She immediately sees the refrigerator and pulls open the door. She sees a full carton of eggs, a can of precut biscuit dough, and a package of sausage. On the door, she sees a tub of butter and a jar of grape jam. 'He's been so nice to me for the past two days, the least I can do is make him breakfast.' She searches the cabinets until she finds an iron skillet and places it on the stove. She finds a can of cooking spray and lightly greases the skillet with it and turns on the stove to medium. She takes two eggs out of the carton and cracks them into the pan. She finds a whisk in a drawer and beats the eggs until they become light and fluffy. She unwraps the meat and cuts them into patties with a knife and places them in the pan with the eggs. She pops open the can of biscuits, places them on a tray she has found in a bottom cabinet next to the sink. She sets the heat for 350º and waits a bit for the light for the oven to turn off, before placing the biscuit tray inside the oven.

While she cooks breakfast in the kitchen, the aroma floats down the hallway into Hiei's room. He opens his eyes with a dreamy expression on his face as he inhales the beautiful scent. He strolls out of the room, practically lured by his nose. "That smells wonderful. You didn't have to go through all the trouble."

"I wanted to make breakfast for you. You've been so kind to me these past two days, letting me stay here, I figured I owed you some sort of gratitude."

"Thanks, it smells so good. Sure can't wait to taste it." He starts to chuckle.

His laughter makes her smile. "What's the matter?" asks Leela.

"Nothing, I just never been treated like this. You're making breakfast in my kitchen. It just feels weird, that's all. No girl, demon or human, has ever treated me with such graciousness."

"It's not a big deal. I just thought a sweet guy like you deserves to have a hot breakfast."

"Enough with flattering. I don't know how much I can take, especially from a girl I just met."

The timer beeps on the oven and Leela finds a pair of oven mitts and removes the hot tray from the oven. She places it next to the skillet. "Where are your plates and silverware?"

"Plates are straight up above you, and I use chopsticks. There's a basket full of them on the table in the main room. Here in Japan, it's a custom to sit on the floor at the table. I hope you don't mind that."

"Doesn't bother me. Do you at least have butter knives?"

"I do, and I have spoons."

"Do you have coffee?"

"Tea. I like drinking tea with meals. Since you went through the trouble of making the food, the least I can do is brew tea."

While he prepares the tea, Leela sets the plates of warm food on the table. She walks back to the fridge and removes the jam and butter. She places both on the table and waits for him to sit.

He sits, snaps a pair of chopsticks in half, tastes the eggs. "Wow, I've been waiting to try this. The eggs are heaven. The sausage is awesome. Where did you come from, really? Spirit World, right?"

"Thank you, I'm glad you like it," she smiles. The pair eats until the plates are empty and their stomachs are full.

"I've really got to tell the guys about you, girl. You're something else. You're a wonderful cook and a great person to hang out with. I feel good with you around."

"Thanks. Ditto." She stands up and collects the plates.

"I'll clean up the dishes, don't worry about them. You've done enough this morning."

He washes the dishes and cleans up the kitchen.

"When do we head to the temple? I want to show Genkai my moves."

"We can go anytime you're ready. I don't want to rush just yet. We can fly slow right now, let the food settle. Besides it's early, she's probably not up yet. I need to get ready myself, I've just gotten up."

Leela nods and walks towards the entrance. She stares into the morning sky overlooking the border. She watches the sun trickle across the tree line, as it slowly rises.

"I'm ready, Leela."

She nods at him and steps back into her boots and straps on the jetpack. The pair sets off and flies over the ground and across the trees, catching the light springtime breeze. They land at the plateau and Leela knocks on the sliding door.

"Come on in," calls the old woman, "I've been waiting for you two to show. I've been anxious ever since the meeting last night."

Leela removes her boots and Hiei his shoes, and the two walk in through the opened door. "Good morning, ma'am," Leela greets as she bows before the woman.

"I see you remembered how to greet someone. You've got excellent manners. I'm glad you arrived here so early. It's only 7:00. Koenma's going to arrive here shortly and Yusuke doesn't have a class until 9:00 and he wants to see your stuff. Who are you fighting today?"

"Just going to spar with my friend here."

"That's fine. Hiei remember, she's new and is probably not familiar with your speed."

"I understand. I'm not interested in topping speeds anyways. She says she's great at hand-to-hand. I'll go slowly. I want to see her moves myself. Also I don't want to go fast, since she's made me breakfast and it's still settling."

"How nice of you, Miss Leela. I didn't know you were that close."

Leela blushes, "We're not that close. Honest. We're just friends."

Genkai leans over with a bit of laughter in her voice, "Whom are you trying to convince, girl, me or you?"

Not long after the two showed up, the two men the old woman mentioned arrive at the temple. "Okay, I'm ready to see this girl in action," states an anxious Yusuke, "Are you squaring off with him? Be careful with that one. Hiei's a pretty tough guy to beat, and I should know."

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm no pushover. There's not a guy I haven't lost a fight against. And I'll be damned if I were to lose to this one. I've wrestled with guys twice my size."

The two face each other, eyes locked and bodies poised. He grabs her around the shoulders from the back. She flips back, and tries to trip his legs up. He sneaks in from behind and brings his arm around her throat in a chokehold. She hesitates at first and struggles to breathe, then gathers her senses and flips back once more and pins his body to the floor with her feet and stretched arm. With that final move the fight is brought to a swift end.

"Holy crap, Leela," smiles Yusuke, "That was awesome. You've got good footwork. You engage your opponent well. You counter his moves with your own. I saw you hesitate a bit, but you kept your composer. Most fighters hesitate at that spot, I'm no different. And you brought a swift end to the fight. You've got great skills." "And I see you've brought Hiei down a peg. Nice work with that."

"Ha, ha. What a comic you are." Hiei sits back up and Leela notices an open scratch on his cheek.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. You're bleeding and that's my fault. I wasn't trying to hurt you."

She rushes over and presses her hand over the scratch. "What? Leela, it takes more than that to hurt him."

She walks with him outside to her boots. "I'm so sorry for that scratch. I just was caught in the moment. I don't want you to suffer."

"It's okay, Leela. I can barely feel any pain at all. I've been through worse stuff than that. You've got great moves. I'm impressed."

"Yeah but you got scratched by me after you've been so nice." Leela reaches into a pocket on her boots and pulls out a pack of wet-wipes. She takes out a moist cloth and tries to wipe the blood from his cheek. He touches her hand with his.

"I'm fine you see, the scratch is disappearing."

"How do you do that?"

"I'm a demon, something that small heals quickly," he explains in a soft voice.

He draws her hand to his mouth, kissing her fist. He allows her hand to gently fall to the planked floor they were sitting over, letting their feet rest on the steps. He rests his hand upon hers. He smiles with a blissful sense twinkling in his eyes, just gazing into her eye. The pair draws close together, eyes closing. Silently, their lips touch. The pair draws back for just a moment, before they kiss again. She smiles with a laughing sigh. Watching from a distance, Genkai smiles at the two, remembering what it was like for her when she was Leela's age. 'Leela, you are that close. I've been in your shoes.'

"I've got to get to class, Grandma, you take care."

"Yeah," the old woman, "see you back here for the party tonight."

"Hey, purple-haired girl," calls a voice from the sky. Leela looks to see Botan fly down. "Keiko, Shizuru, and I have come to take you kimono shopping."

"Okay, I've got fifty bucks with me. It's American money."

"That's okay, the store Keiko knows accepts both dollars and yen. And their kimonos are so reasonably priced."

"Aren't they missing work?" Leela asks as the two women scurry down the temple's stairs to an awaiting car.

"Leela," replies Shizuru in the driver's seat, "Don't worry about us skipping work. We're the bosses of the companies we work for." Leela and Botan file into the back seat of the red Honda.

"So, what's the occasion? Is it a sudden need to drive around and shop?"

"Just time to spend with the new girl in town," another brunette in the front seat replies, "This trip is what we call Girl Time. No boys are allowed. You can talk about boys, just not have them present."

"Yeah," replies Shizuru, "plus I don't think most American girls have too many kimonos in their closets. One reason is it's the old lady's birthday. She's 90 today. It maybe her last milestone birthday, so we're having a big to-do at the temple tonight."

"Will the guys dress up too?"

"Everyone is," replies Keiko, "Wait, are you thinking of…"

"Of who? I don't have any… Fry's not here."

"Leela, we're not talking about some guy from the future," replies Botan, "I saw what you were doing."

"I didn't do anything. I just…we were just sparring and I scratched his cheek."

"Hiei doesn't injure that easily," Keiko laughs.

"I had a bird's eye view of what you were doing, Leela. I wasn't going to land and spoil anything."

"I…don't know what you mean," Leela blushes and starts petting her ponytail, "We're just friends."

"Leela, I know what's going on. Don't hide it. You love him. I speak from experience. It was almost exactly like that with Kurama and me. Now we've been married for seven years and have two cute kids."

"I noticed that last night when talking to you before the meeting. I tried to convince you he's not always been good, and I've known him forever. You've only known him for the last 48 hours and yet last night you were defending him."

"He's been so nice to me, what else could I say?"

"When Koenma returned to Spirit World, I couldn't believe what he said, that you were showering Hiei with so many praises he couldn't stand it."

"Why not? He's a good person. Where I come from, people make fun of me because of my eye. They only see the eye, and don't give themselves a chance to know me. Hiei is different. He never once said anything bad about me. He didn't make fun of me or call me names. Just once in my life, I was wanting to find someone who wasn't so judgmental."

"And then you met him. You've got him at just the right time, because he used to be so harsh and so cruel. He kidnapped me one time and almost made me into a low-level demon with a third eye."

"Ladies, we're here at the shop," Shizuru announces, as she pulls into a parking space in front of a clothing store. "Leela, it's time you found a nice kimono."

The girls file out of the car and head into the building. Leela gazes at the walls lined with kimonos for any occasion. She peers at the wall closest to them with beautiful garments all arranged in orderly manners.

As the girls were checking out the different styles, a petite woman with sea-green hair and a two-seater stroller walks through the door. "It's Yukina," chimes Keiko in delight.

"Is that black-haired baby who I think?"

"He is, that's Hiro," replies Botan.

"He's so cute. He does indeed look like his father. I was thinking he would." Leela stoops down to take a look at the baby. She also sees another baby beside him with the colored hair as Yukina. "This must be Yuki. She's cute too. Are they coming to the party?"

"Of course they are. Everybody is."

As Leela peers at the babies, Hiro starts to cry.

"Can I hold him, Yukina? I know his father."

"If you're friends with him, then sure."

Leela unfastens the harness for Hiro and picks him up and holds him in her arms. "My aren't you handsome, just like your dad is. He's only got two eyes."

"So did Hiei have two, just like everybody else," replies Yukina.

"Then that leaves me out with just one eye."

"No, you're fine," replies Shizuru, "You're a very pretty cyclops. I heard what happened yesterday. My brother called you a monster. But don't let anything he say get to you, because he's an A-class idiot."

"I deal with his type all the time. Fry was the exact same when I met him. And he's still an idiot. One time we were on an alien moon and it took him several hours to free his head from a crater, because he thought it would fit. Another time he was sentenced to a robot asylum and ended up thinking he was a robot."

"Fry and Kazuma would be perfect together. Like idiots on parade."

"Eww, boy. I think he dropped a bomb," Leela responds to Hiro, "Is there a restroom around here?"

"Yeah, there's one in the back here. The ladies are along this same wall as the women's kimonos," informs the store clerk, "It has a changing table inside the handicap stall."

"Do you want me to change him, Leela?" asks Shizuru.

"Naw, I can do it. I used to change diapers when I still lived at the Orphanarium." Leela picks up the diaper bag with Hiro's name on it and heads for the restroom, followed by Keiko.

The women enter and Leela starts to strip Hiro. As Leela unpeels the soiled diaper, Hiro gives it one last pee. "Aren't we done yet, young man?"

"At least he didn't get your shirt. Can't tell you how many times Yoshi doused my shirt."

"That's just the way men are, no self control. Isn't that right, Hiro?" Hiro looks up and laughs at Leela.

Leela removes his soiled diaper, hands it to Keiko, wipes his bottom with a baby wet-wipe, and places a clean new diaper around him. She straps the sticky tabs on either side of him to secure the diaper. "There you go, Hiro. Now we can go shopping again. Huh, yeah you want to get a kimono too, huh."

"Ever thought of becoming a mother, Leela?"

"Doesn't every girl wish that?"

"Now you can tell his father you like his baby."

"I love him. He's such a handsome boy. Yeah, you are." Hiro laughs at Leela and squeals in delight.

"There he is. How was he back there?" asks his aunt.

"He was good as usual," replies Keiko with a cheerful smile in her voice.

"Ah and he didn't hose you, Leela."

"He tried to, but I blocked him with his poopy diaper."

"Good for you, he gets his father wet every time," Yukina laughs, "Hiei's very fast, but he can't outrun his own son."

"That's sad," laughs Leela.

"Oh you think so? When Saito was a baby, Kurama bought a closet full of brown khaki shirts. He had more than Steve Irwin, I think. He wore those so the pee stains wouldn't be noticeable. Saito was just that good at the hose game."

Leela places Hiro back in his stroller as Botan tries to measure Leela's size to a vestment. Botan finds a royal blue kimono with light yellow orchids flowing eloquently throughout the cloth. "You're an 8, right? I think this one looks pretty and it brings out the blue in your eye. It comes with this white sash."

"That looks gorgeous. How can I try one on?"

"I'll show you how to dress in a kimono," Botan replies, "I wear one all the time at work. I'll help you out."


	6. Chapter 6

Later on in the evening, Leela prepares herself for the party at Shizuru's house. Shizuru helps Leela dress in the kimono she had bought at the store that morning. "You think he'd like me in this kimono?"

"In my opinion, these men of ours love whatever we wear. I know Hiei's no different. For all they care, we'd look good naked."

"They're starting to sound like the men I work with at Planet Express."

"Honey, it doesn't matter what century you're from, all men are mindless dorks. My Kurama is no exception."

"I heard that!" shouts his light masculine voice from another room.

"And foxes have great hearing from anywhere in the house and sound like old goats when they talk."

"Aw, the sweet sounds of a crow coming out the mouth of my wife," he comments back.

"Are you two fighting?" asks Leela.

"No, but we like to play name-calling games to see if I rock or he sucks."

"Very funny. You get a gold star for your sassy mouth."

Shizuru bobbles her head from side to side and sticks out her tongue. "See what I mean, Leela, ALL MEN are mindless dorks." She adds the final touches to Leela's attire. "There now, you look fabulous. Your hair's done up nicely in this bun on your head. Try not to mess with your hair too much, or these needles in your hair will prick your fingers. You're all set. Now I'll get ready. I've dressed in kimonos before for festivals and stuff, so I can dress myself. He's fine. Men don't have that much to prepare. Saito and Sakura are their rooms all ready to go. We'll be ready in just a few."

After a while the Minaminos' house becomes dark with the porch lights flipped on. The night sky sparkles with diamonds. The clouds from earlier in the day have now dissipated allowing the sky to display a cosmic show. The kids right with their father in his truck and the two women take the Honda. "Why do you take separate cars?"

"This car only seats four people for one. Also he's got work at 5AM tomorrow and Saito has pre-kindergarten. I've put your stuff in the trunk in a bag. I think you're staying at the temple with Genkai tonight. Hiei's going to stay with Mukuro tonight after the party. I've got a bad feeling about her condition. Kurama's got to check on her first. We'll let you see her soon. Tonight might be her last night. That's why I've got a black kimono with your stuff."

The car and the truck make there way to the temple. The entire parameter around her grounds is lined with cars. Both vehicles manage to find space close to pathway leading up to the steps. "Leela, you might want to pick your skirt off the ground when we walk up. So you don't trip and tear the hem. The kimono is brand new, so you take care of that."

Leela nods and the women trudge into the woods and up the stairs. At the top of the plateau, the entire area is filled with visitors, both human and demon. The entire area is lighted with lamps, which illuminate the plateau. Leela scans the area until she spots a familiar face. "Hey Botan, good to see you. You're looking fabulous."

"Thank you, so do you. I really like that color on you; it matches your skin complexion and your eye."

"So does yours. I think pink just suits you."

"This is my everyday kimono I wear at work. You've just never seen me in it."

"Where is he?"

"You mean… just around here somewhere."

Leela looks around until she sees his familiar red eyes and black hair. He's dressed in a fancy black kimono top and steel-gray pleated pants. His hair is knotted at the top of his head. "Wow, don't you look sharp. I really like that look on you."

"Stand more towards the light and let me see. Turn around in a 360º slowly." He whistles loud. "I love you in that style. You're as sexy as a geisha girl."

"I met your son today while I was out shopping. The girls took me out." 

"I saw you leave with Botan. So you've met him."

"What a sweet boy you've got. He's such a cute kid."

"Thanks, sis told me you changed him. You didn't have to do that."

"She said he gets you every time."

"Yeah, Hiro loves giving me pee baths. He thinks since he's so young he can get away with it."

"How's you and this lady friend of yours?" asks a male voice from behind Leela, "and here she is, Miss Leela. I've heard through the grapevine that you, Mr. Speed and her are an item now. Is that true?"

"Urameshi, who's been feeding that into your head? We're just friends okay."

"That's not what I saw. I saw someone here making out this morning. Either you've got an identical twin brother nobody knows about, or it was you with her."

"You're mistaken. You've known me forever. I don't kiss girls I just met."

"But he said 'making out', not kiss. You said kiss. And unless my fox-hearing is going bad tonight, you just whistled at the chick."

"Fox Boy, since when did I ask for your input? Like I said we're…we're just friends."

"Wait if we're just friends, then that was a pretend kiss, huh?"

"No that's not it, that was a real…uh. Hey quit confusing me, woman."

"Why are you being so confused, darling?"

"Did you hear that, Fire man? She called you darling," taunts Kurama folding his arms on Hiei's head, "Now isn't that so romantic? You thank so too, don't you Yusuke?"

"Yeah I agree with him. I think this sweet thing here, and that rotten egg there have GOT IT ON! HELL YEAH, BABY!"

"You shut up, Urameshi. And Fox Boy, get off my head before I break your arms."

"Why did you exclude me just now? Unless you love me."

"Woman, that's enough out of you."

"Hey guys, what's this all about?"

"Yeah, I was told by someone that I love this friend of yours, Kazuma."

"By who? Who told you that, Leela?"

"Aw, but if I tell you, I'll have to kill you. Rules of the spy world."

"Tee-hee, I just heard someone over here was in love with this new girl."

"O'Falla, if you don't want me to turn you into venison, then say out of it."

Hiei closes his eyes, and then looks at Leela. "Can we talk in private?"

"Oooh. In private," two guys utter.

"I said private, not in this circus of freaks."

He motions to her to follow him. They walk behind the temple and away from the crowd.

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. Sometimes when I get in a group like that, I just get absorbed."

"I'm not mad at you, Leela. Those guys are really good friends of mine and we joke around like that."

"So what do you want?"

"Is it really true, Leela? That you think of me than more than just friends. Yukina said that earlier. She saw you with Hiro, and thinks you'd be a great mother someday."

"I've been thinking about that. Back in my time, I even thought of adopting a child. When I saw Hiro, I fell in love with him. Looking at him and holding him, I just imagined for that moment what you must have been like as a baby. I'll bet you were the cutest thing."

Leela strolls down to the beach and gazes up at the stars dancing across the open sky. She sighs as she sits on the sandy beach. "Do you know I've been to almost all of these stars? What my company does is deliver packages to various planets throughout this sky."

"Yet you still come here to this time instead of that guy you love so much. If you say he's about as an idiot as Kuwabara is, he probably wouldn't have survived those woods, or would have been so scared of me, that it would take forever to erase his mind. I'm glad you came instead. The way you sound, you were unhappy with your life. Maybe coming here was like starting out fresh, like starting your life with a clean slate. You seem more at ease from when you first arrived here.

Here, you have four girls that took you shopping and wanted to spend time sharing their lives and gossiping with you. I know these women. They are awesome girls to hang around with. The guys adore you. They think you're the hottest chick they've seen. I for one agree with them. I think you're one foxy lady. You're the hottest babe I've ever seen, both in Demon and Human World.

I like how you've accepted me. You didn't care that I have three eyes on my face. I think the way you even called me by that alien's name was rather sweet. When we sparred today and scratched my face, I thought it was rather sweet that you apologized and wanted to wipe off the blood. You know in order for Mukuro to accept me, I had to prove myself and fight her. Before that she wanted to toughen me up by fighting and killing demons in this dungeon at the tower. She went so far as to have me fight her right-hand man and I had to server my own arm in the process.

I'm so glad when you met me, you didn't make me prove anything to you. You've just accepted me without any strings attached. You're a sweet girl, Leela. I was kind of hoping that I'd actually meet someone like that. A really sweet girl who just loves me for me. That's the person I was longing for in my life. Kurama's got a girl like that. So does Urameshi. I just don't want to be alone anymore."

"I understand where you are coming from, Hiei. I too feel I wanted more out of life than I got. When I was a born, my parents left me at an orphanage. I know they meant well and wanted the best life for me, but I just wanted parents. At the orphanage, the kids all laughed at me, just because I'm a cyclops. Even through my adult life, people turn away from me and refused to look at me for whom I am. I took martial arts training from this instructor who ridiculed me just for being a girl. It took Fry a long time to accept me for who I am and didn't mind I was like this.

I thought that it was an accident I came here. I'm starting to have my doubts about that. Maybe Koenma's right. Maybe it wasn't a mistake to take that car and come here. I really enjoy talking with your friends. These women are very nice, not once even making cracks about my face. Your buddies are really nice men. I really like your friend Yusuke. He seems like such a neat guy. I really want to see how good of a fighter he is.

I really like hanging out with you. You don't seem so pushy, or arrogant. You've accepted me and I'm so grateful you've allowed me to stay in your home. Too many guys I know just think all I'm good for is a sex thing to jump in bed with. You don't do that. You treat me with respect. You're courteous to me. When I felt homesick and crying, you went out of your way to comfort me and tell me things would be all right. I've never had anyone to comfort me, not even Fry did anything like that. I feel so comfortable when I'm around you. I can just be myself. Maybe Botan and Shizuru are right. Maybe I have fallen in love with you. When we were shopping, you were all I could think about. I think I love you, Hiei."

"I feel the same way with you. I know the guys were just messing around and I did think it was great that joined in. Maybe the guys are right though. I think about you all the time, even when you're not with me. I feel the same as you, Leela. I think I love you. Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, I would like that. I would be honored." She leans over and kisses him on the lips.


	7. Chapter 7

Leela and Hiei kiss as the stars glint over their heads in the sky, as if they are watching the pair with such wonder. The salty breeze whispers to them as it blows gently around them and clings to their noses. Their ears feel the sense of calmness as they listen to the waves crash into the beach from the Sea of Japan.

Leela draws back slowly as she glances into the eyes of her new boyfriend. She laughs quietly to herself and asks, "I think it's time we head back to the party."

"Yeah, I guess so. Otherwise, I think the guys will be wondering what happened to me. With those twits, they might get the idea that we're actually doing it."

Leela gets back onto her feet and extends her hands to Hiei, offering him to stand. He smiles and takes the offer. The two make their way up the hill and back to the party in front of the temple. Leela manages to catch Botan's eyes and waves at her. The pair separates and Hiei rejoins his friends.

"What happened to you, Leela? I saw you disappear with Hiei a little while ago."

"It's official. We're a couple now."

"Oh that's great. Congrats. I sort of figured that would happen; the way you've been talking about him and acted around him. I think you've got yourself a fine man. He seems at ease around you."

"You didn't think so earlier. You said he was no good."

"Well, I've known him forever. Fate has dealt him a rotten hand his whole life and he had to find some way to manage with loneliness. I can guess how much the burden of being alone had taken a toll on his soul and very being. I'm glad he's got you with him. Maybe you'll be the one to fill the void in his heart. And I think he'll need you shortly. I know you were asked to stay at the temple, but Mukuro's life is coming to an end and I think he's going to need you there to be with him in her final moments. Before you came, she's been the love in his life."

"Isn't there some way to save her? I'd hate to see him heartbroken."

"I wish there was. But sadly, there is nothing for her. Maybe if she had lived 1000 years longer to be in your era, then maybe she'd have a chance. But there's nothing for her now. Nothing except a place for her in Spirit World. Koenma has already set a place for her. He thinks with all the rotten things that happened to her in her life, she at least deserves to find peace and comfort in the afterlife. I know her soul yearns for that; she's even told me so."

Leela glances toward the temple steps to Hiei sitting by himself. She walks over to see him half dazed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sort of tired though. I'm a little anxious to get up to the tower and check on Mukuro."

"Do you want to leave early? I don't see Kurama anymore; I guess he's gone home for the night. Shizuru said he has work in the morning."

"So has Yusuke for the same reason. Kuwabara and Yukina left to put the babies down for the night."

"I've got my stuff in Shizuru's car. I want to get out of this kimono anyways, it's making me itch."

Leela searches the grounds until she spots Shizuru talking to Keiko. She walks over to Shizuru and asks for the trunk key. Shizuru searches around in her sleeves and pulls out her set of car keys, and hands them to Leela with the trunk key being shown. Leela thanks her and walks down the stairway to the car. She opens the trunk and finds a giant plastic bag with her clothes and her boots. She pulls it out and shuts the trunk door, automatically locking it. She quickly looks around and dashes into the woods and hides behind an enormous bush. She unfurls the sash and unwraps the kimono from around her body. She pulls out her normal tank top and black pants and sets them aside. She folds the kimono and places it in the bag. Then she pulls her tank top over her head and slides her pants over her waist. Finally she straps on her boots and prepares to leave the bush, with her bag now filled with two kimonos. Almost forgetting, she reaches up and removes the pins from her hair and shakes her head, letting her hair fall to her shoulders and down her back. She pokes the pins through one of the kimonos and secures them. She removes her black scrunchy out of one her pockets and combs her hair with her fingers. She pulls her hair back, forming a ponytail, and then snaps the scrunchy at the tail's base.

She grabs the bag and prepares to ascend the stairs, when she suddenly spots Hiei zipping down the stairs with a frantic look on his face.

"Leela, there you are. We need to get back now."

"Why, what's going on?"

"No time to explain, but quick we need to get to the tower now."

"I'll get the jetpack ready in two seconds."

"There's no time for that. Hop on my back. I can get there in less than 30 seconds. I can move ten times faster than that thing."

Leela decides not to argue and does as he requests. She climbs on his back and spots Shizuru descending the stairs. She tosses the keys back and asks her to put the bag, which she left at the bottom of the steps in her car. Shizuru nods and Leela and Hiei quickly take off.

Just as he said, they dash quickly through the trees and past the border. Within the time he predicted, they arrive at the tower and hastily race inside. While still on his back, they zip to the top of the tower to a weird looking hallway. Leela gets off his back and the two find an open room with a bed along the center back wall. In the bed, a red-haired woman rests. She turns and spots the two of them. Nurses stand all around her bed, watching her.

"Mukuro, my dearest. Is it true?" Hiei asks, in a shaky voice.

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry if I'm causing you such pain. How's Hiro?"

"He's doing just fine. He's such a healthy baby."

"I know, you brought him by just the other day. It's so nice that we've produced such a pretty kid. He's not going to know what loneliness or suffering is."

She smiles weakly then looks at Leela. "Who are you, Miss?"

"I'm Leela, ma'am. I'm so sorry about what you're going through. I wish I could help. I'm from the 31st century where there are cures for any ailments."

"Yes, I'll bet there are. I know if I could have lived another 1000 years, then I would definitely be interested. Are you staying together?"

"Sorry, I don't want you to think I'm here to steal him away from you," Leela starts to cry.

"No, it's no big deal. I know he needs someone anyways."

Leela senses someone behind her and turns her head to see Kurama standing there, dressed in his white coat. "I came as soon as I heard. How are you feeling, Mukuro?"

"I'm tired and dizzy."

"I'm sorry for all of this. If I had known I was going to be sent to the past just to find her like this, I would have brought a cure for you from Professor Farnsworth." Leela covers her eye with her hands and cries.

"Leela, it's okay," assures Kurama, rubbing her back with his hand, "I'm sure you would have found something. I know the future probably holds cures for a bunch of diseases and stuff. Certainly would make my job as a doctor rather easy."

"Leela, you have one cure. You're with Hiei, are you not?" asks Mukuro.

"Botan just told me that you two are a couple now. I think that's great."

"So do I. See, that's the cure. You're going to be together, now. I like that idea."

"But I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay with me."

"Hiei, you've got someone that loves you for just who you are. She doesn't care about your dark past or any crap you're ashamed of. She's got a kind heart; I can see that. She'll be there for you, won't you Leela?"

"Yes, I want to stay with you, Hiei. I love you so much."

"You hear that. You've got a woman who'll stand by you, who also loves you. Maybe she loves you more than I do. I feel I can leave this world, knowing you, Hiei, won't be alone ever again. I've asked Koenma if I can be reincarnated in another person or creature. He says there's a tigress yet to be born. He's wants me to be reborn as a tiger. I'm looking forward to that. Please, Hiei, take care." Mukuro closes her eyes and expels her last breath. Kurama reaches over with his stethoscope and listens to her pulse on her arm until he can hear nothing but silence.

"I'm sorry, Hiei, she's gone."

Hiei quickly stands and tears away from the room and races down the hallway.

Leela looks at Kurama then races down the hallway after Hiei. She finds him at the end of the hall, bashing his fists through the wall. "Hiei, stop this. What good will that do you?"

"Shut up, you're just a girl from the future that doesn't understand what this is."

She walks over and kneels to the floor in front of him. "But I do understand. I know what it's like to lose someone I really love. When I lost Fry, I thought nobody understood the pain it caused me."

"But that was a stupid dream, this is real. I'll never see her again."

"She said she's going to be a newborn tiger. Maybe you will see her again in that form."

"I just wish…" he drops to his knees, "Leela." He looks at her with tears streaming from his eyes. She holds him in her arms without saying a word. She combs her fingers through his soft hair. She gently rubs his back with her other hand. Quickly she feels her shoulder moisten and hears her beloved mourn in agony, trying hard to muffle his pain. She feels her own heart breaking, but she swallows her the lump in her throat, trying to keep herself together for him.

She glances over and sees Kurama walk towards them. She looks at him but still remains silent. She just watches him kneel down to them with a sympathetic look in his eyes. He says nothing either and places his hand upon the back of his sobbing friend.

"I'm so sorry this happened," he whispers, "I too understand the pain you're in. I've lost my mother and my best friends, Yomi and Kuronue.

Leela, my mother was the first person and first woman I ever loved. She meant everything to me. She was going to die of cancer when I was fifteen. I wished her illness away on a mirror, but the illness came back nine years later and killed her.

Kuronue was killed many centuries ago trying to save me from a hoard of bounty hunters.

As for Yomi, he died in a fight with a cycloptic wolf demon named Dakota."

"I understand this pain. Can't even begin to tell you of whom I lost over the years." Leela blinks her eye, trying to block tears from forming. "I can't stand to see him suffer like this. He doesn't deserve this at all." Leela becomes unable to hold her own tears back.

"That's because you're a good person. I knew that yesterday when we first met at the hospital. I knew right from the beginning you have a good heart. You're the first girl that has ever fallen in love with Hiei almost instantly. Most girls are turned off by his Jagan Eye and his brash demeanor. But you've looked past that into his soul. You've liked him for who he is as a person. Inside that rough exterior is a sweet man who loves and protects his sister, is an excellent father to Hiro, loved Mukuro with all his heart, and now loves you. He really is a good guy to have around. He's an excellent fighter. We had another tournament on the human side and he won in every single battle."

"My guess is her wake is tomorrow. What do you do for that, Kurama? I've never been to a Japanese wake before. Do you have a funeral home here?"

"We'll have it here on the main floor. It'll be tomorrow night. Koenma will preside over it and so will Genkai. She maybe human, but she is also like a monk. She is a disciple of Buddha and so she'll head the funeral rites as well."

After a while, Leela hears Hiei's mourning lessen, as he draws back from her and looks at her with tears still dripping from his eyes. She reaches one of her hands up to his face and tries to brush his tears gently away with her thumb.

"Are you feeling any better? I know how devastating this is for you."

Hiei tries to smile through his tears. "I still need to wrap my head around all that happened today. I still can't grasp the notion that Mukuro is gone. I also can't believe I have you to share my life with. Thank you for just being here for me tonight. I know you were asked to stay at the temple, but I'm glad you decided to come with me to the tower."

"I'm not a child, you know. I'm 27 years old. I can look after myself, even in this strange world of yours. I'm even thinking of applying for a job in Tokyo. I'm also going to see about taking a course in how to read and speak Japanese."

"There's a course at the community college in town," informs Kurama, "They teach people applying for citizenship from the United States and England here. I think with your brains, Leela, you'll have no problem with learning the language. My wife's anxious to help you learn more of our customs. She'll be more than thrilled to tutor you. You can also learn the language at the junior high Yusuke teaches and Keiko is principal of. After the kids get out, the language teacher offers up lessons for adults. You could ask him to teach you. I'm meeting with him and Yusuke after school anyways. I'll ask Mr. Seiko if he'd be willing to take you in his class. That class is free."

"Thank you, sir," Leela smiles with a gracious sparkle in her eye.

"Would you like to come stay with us tonight? I think it'll get you to know us some more. Plus it'll give Hiei some space. With all that's happened within the last 24 hours, I think he needs time to think things through."

"Yes, please go with him. I'll be fine here. I'll see you again tomorrow night, anyways at the wake."

"I'll take you up on that, Kurama. I need space anyways too. I haven't yet absorbed the idea that we're going out. It feels weird to me, that's all. I'm going to come back tomorrow and see you again, Hiei." She leans forward a bit and gives Hiei a sweet kiss on the lips. "I hope you're going to be all right, darling." She stands on her feet and helps him to stand. She kisses him again then embraces him in her arms. Finally she lets go of him. "I love you," she replies with a warm smile. She backs away with the other man, feeling a little guilty about leaving him behind. She only walks about twenty feet from him when she tears away and runs back and kisses him again.

"Do you want me to walk out with you, Leela?" he asks, smiling at her.

"I just feel guilty about leaving you here alone. I don't want you to feel like I'm abandoning you."

"You're just like my wife, Leela," Kurama comments, "Once she fell in love with me, she wanted to be with me all the time. She'd feel guilty about leaving my apartment and heading home. But that's the power of love. That's what I saw when I saw the two of you together the first time I met you. I could tell by your face that you loved him. I could tell by looking at Hiei as well. That was the first time I've ever seen him truly happy. I saw him in love with Mukuro, but it wasn't as instant. At the meeting, when you spoke, I watched him. I saw what you were doing, Hiei. You were looking right at Leela with a sparkle in your eyes I've never seen before, not even with Mukuro. You looked like you were falling for her."

"I can't help it. She's just so sexy and so smart. I wanted to shout my feelings for her. I love you, Leela. You fill my heart with such joy. I just love you." Hiei holds her hand and returns a kiss to her lips. They rejoin Kurama while still holding hands as the three walk all the way down the other end of the hallway and down the steps until they make their way outside the building. Leela takes her jetpack out and fires it up. As she flies off, with Kurama beside her, she glances back at her new love and blows him a kiss.

"I hate to just leave him."

"I understand. You love him. That's a natural feeling you have."

"I know, I used to feel like that with Fry. I was in love with him."

"And now you have Hiei, and I can't feel more happy for you. You've picked a fine guy to be with. I can't wait until you know him some more. You'll see what sort of person he is and see that he really is a good man."


	8. Chapter 8

Leela returns to the Human World to the road in front of the temple where Kurama has his truck parked. She notices the road is very quiet at this time of the night. She sees her wristband on the dashboard and immediately straps it to her wrist and turns it on. Immediately she reads the time 035. "I'm sorry you're getting home so late. I know you have work at 5AM."

"Don't worry about that. You know a doctor has to respond at a moment's notice, no matter how late at night the emergency is. One time, I was awakened at 1:50AM to help deliver a baby. It took me all night with the woman and by the time her son was born, it was 6:15. The head doctor understood and let me go home early and sleep the rest of the day."

They arrive at his house just a short time later. Shizuru is waiting at the door, anxious to talk to Leela.

"Welcome home, dear. What happened?"

"Mukuro is gone. The wake is later this evening."

"Yeah, I sensed she was gone. I felt her demon energy just disappear all of a sudden. How is Hiei holding up?"

"As much as to be expected with a broken heart. He's managing though."

"Shizuru, when she died all I could think of was to be by his side more than ever. I held onto him and let him grieve. I hardly know the woman, but I just hate to see him suffer," Leela sighs with a touch of sadness in her eye.

"I know. You care about him that much. You've got a big heart," Shizuru smiles at her.

As Kurama saunters to the back of the house, the two women sit on a soft couch in the living room. Shizuru looks at Leela with a huge smile on her face, barely able to keep herself excitement in check. "So tell me what happened, girl. I'm just dying to find out. I saw you guys leave alone together during the party."

"Yeah, well we're together. He asked me to be his girlfriend."

"Ah how cool. Congrats. Please explain. I really want to know."

"Well we went behind the temple to this beach and sat at the top where the grass line ends."

"That's a magical beach, by the way. That's where Kurama and I fell in love. Tell me some more."

"We were looking at the stars and I was telling him I've been to just about every single one of them."

"For real, wow now that's amazing. I've always wished to know what flying through space was like. Right now, N.A.S.A is trying to figure out how to get astronauts up to Mars and explore it."

"In my time, we've already terra-formed Mars and have a jungle, a university, and one of my co-workers is from there. Her family owns a huge ranch and raises these giant beetles that we call buggalo."

"That sounds neat. I'm starting to like your era, Leela. Getting back to what happened at the party, what happened next? Did you get in deep?"

"Yes, he told me how much he liked me and what I mean to him. He said he likes me for who I am and because I'm not judgmental towards him. Usually I am judgmental around men I don't know that well, but I feel just different around him, like he accepted me almost immediately. I've never gotten that from guys off the bat, not even Fry. All Zapp wants me for is sex. I accidentally slept with him once and he's never let me live it down."

"I'm beat. I think the party wore me out. We can talk tomorrow around lunchtime. We've got Girl Time tomorrow."

"It's Friday though, don't you have work."

"I did. I was supposed to have two appointments in the morning but both canceled. When I got home from the party, there was a message on the machine. Mrs. Araki can't make it. She's really sick; I could tell by her voice she was about to barf. She said she'd been doing that all night. About an hour after that message, I get a call and Mrs. Yakima's daughter is sick with the chicken pox. I told her I don't want have both her and her husband come in incase it traveled home with me. Sakura was sick with that last Wednesday, she's just gotten over them Saturday."

"What about Keiko though? Doesn't she work for the school Yusuke teaches at?"

"She's the principal. In any case, the school is cutting classes early. They've got a play to put on and all the teachers are involved. She's not involved so she's got the day off."

"Where am I to sleep, Shizuru?"

"We've got a spare bedroom for guests, just like at Hiei's place. The bathroom is right next to it."

"Thank you, Shizuru. I need a bathroom anyways. I've been holding it a little while on the couch. Now I really have to pee." Leela excuses herself and races into the bathroom, slamming the door. Shizuru barely walks to her bedroom when she hears Leela, as if she was pouring a liter bottle of water into the toilet.

The next morning, Shizuru finds herself alone in her bed. She remembers hearing the alarm go off at 4:30 as usual and had felt her husband stealthfully get out of bed. She remembers little else as she had drifted back to sleep afterwards. She sees Leela's door is open and hears the shower from the bathroom next to it. She walks further down the hall to the kids' room. She catches the kids' bathroom door standing wide open and saw Saito standing in front of the toilet.

"Saito! What did I tell you about closing the door behind you? We're not living in the Third World. Besides I told you we have a guest with us today."

"Sorry mom. Who is it?"

"You remember that lady your dad was talking to last night with uncle Hiei."

"Oh that one-eyed woman. She's such a weird-o."

"Saito Minamino! That's mean and you know it. How would you feel if she thought your tail was weird?"

"I can't help it. Why would she make her face look like that?"

"Young man, she's a beautiful girl."

"To you maybe. What will the guys at school say? She looks strange."

"Saito, you look strange with your pointy ears and fox tail. Some people think that's ugly. So how do you feel now?"

"But mom…"

"Don't mom me. If you are rude to her today, we'll just call Akira's mom and cancel your playtime on Sunday. He won't come over."

Saito shrugs his shoulders in shame and starts to walk away from the toilet. "Flush it and put the seat down. Sissy will need to use it too and she doesn't need to see your mess. Wash your hands before you leave."

Shizuru walks back up the hall towards Leela's room. She sees Leela dressing through a slit in the sliding door. "Are you ready, Girlfriend?"

Leela has her pants over her waist and straps her bra in place. "Come on in. I'm just about ready."

Shizuru looks at the dresser and sees Leela's wristband. She picks it up and studies it. "What's this thing? I've seen you wear this all the time, but what does it do?"

"You can put it on your wrist if you like. A lot of people wear them from my time."

"How do you get it on?" Leela walks over to Shizuru and straps it around her wrist. The wristband turns on almost immediately.

"It's like a little computer you wear on your wrist. It can tell you what time it is, where you are, you can chat on it, play games, and keep personal data on it like phone numbers. There's a day calendar where you can add appointments." Leela shows Shizuru the time for Mukuro's wake and the funeral the next day.

"Wow, that's neat. We've got stuff very similar to your wristband. I have something like it. Let me show it." Shizuru walks swiftly out of the room, retrieves a palm pilot from her purse on her dresser, and then walks back to Leela. "See what I mean. This is what I use everyday. I've also got a cell phone with the same features you have on your wristband. Right now I have the wake scheduled, it's at 6:00 by the way. I see you've set it for 5:00."

"Well I just want to be there for him. As early as I can make it."

"I understand. I'd want to get there before everyone else. That's what we did when Shiori died. We had the wake at her house. That's just how we Japanese do things. The wake is at the person's home and then we burn the body at the funeral. It's just a tradition. Sometimes we cremate the body in an oven. But since Mukuro is a dignitary and a former king, we'll have her body set on fire. If I were you, tomorrow I'd hold Hiei during the rite. He'll need you there beside him, especially since he loved her."

"Yeah I'll be there for him," Leela sighs, feeling sad. She looks at her wristband on Shizuru's wrist. "It's 9:15. When are the other girls coming?"

"Darn, it's that time. I'd better get ready and wake Sakura, if she's not already up. Yukina's coming by here with the babies. She should arrive here soon. She likes how you've taken to Hiro."

"Yeah, I was sort of hoping to see him again. I want to spend more time with him." Leela slides her shirt over her head and frees her hair from the shirt.

As she combs her hair with her fingers and makes a ponytail, she hears the front door knock. She walks to the front and sees Yukina with the stroller. "Hi, Yukina," she speaks softly, trying not to disturb the sleeping babies.

"Nice to see you too, Leela. Hope you don't mind me coming this early."

"Not at all," Leela assures as she helps to bring the stroller inside the house. Despite the girls' quietness, Hiro starts to fuss. Leela stoops down and tries to console him while still in his seat.

"He needs up. I can see he's trying to make Yuki mad," laughs Leela. She unfastens his harness and picks him up. "Hey there, it's okay. Shh, you're fine." Leela holds him and gently rocks him in her arms, trying to comfort him.

"Did I hear someone getting mad out here?" calls Shizuru. "Hi, Yukina." She walks out fully dressed and bends down to hug the girl. "Aw, I see Hiro's found Leela."

"He was getting fussy and I wanted to calm him down," replies Leela, letting him with her hand.

"What time did the babies get up?" asks Shizuru.

"Hiro got up at 4:30 and he woke up Yuki at 5:00. Kazuma took him and I held Yuki."

"Kurama and Hiro have the same time they get up. I swear if the one isn't sinking up with the other."

Yukina picks up Yuki, who's still asleep, and all three women make their way into the living room. "Can I set their lunch in your fridge, Shizuru?"

"Help yourself. There's plenty of room. Our lunch is in the freezer. I hope you don't mind pizza, Leela? Since you're American and you're new to our group, I went out yesterday morning and bought a DiGiorno. I know you're trying to fit in to our customs, but you're still American and it's only fair that we partake in your customs too."

"Thanks, Shizuru. Have you ever been to the U.S?"

"Yes, in fact a few of Kurama's work buddies are American. There are at least four doctors he works with that are from your country. There's a female doctor named Sarah Wright, she's from Illinois. There's another woman, Dr. Amy Young from Florida. And the other two are men. One he's really best friend with is Adam Henderson. He's from New York City, same as you. There's also one guy who's Canadian American, Fred Quince from Vancouver." Shizuru scratches her head. "One of my clients is from Virginia, the one with that stomach bug. Mrs. Araki's maiden name is Scott. Marilyn Scott's her name. She's a student at Tokyo U, and she's just married one of the guys in her field, Sora Araki. He's from Kyoto."

Leela's arms become tired from holding Hiro and she reclines on the couch with him. She rests her arms on her lap and allows him to rest. She watches Hiro fall back to sleep.

Yukina walks in and smiles at the two on the couch. "It's 9:30 anyways, he usually naps at that time. Yuki's asleep on your bed, Shizuru. It's time for her nap too. Their next meal is at 10:30. That's especially when Hiro gets hungry. He'll let you know, Leela. He has a different cry for that." Yukina looks at Leela with amazement. "He usually doesn't take to people he doesn't know right away."

"Do you think he smells Hiei on me?"

"Maybe, but even if that's the case he'll still not trust people he's not familiar with."

"Wow, Leela, you're such a natural," Shizuru comments, "Have you ever thought of becoming a mother?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it. I want to be a mom."

"If things work out between you and Hiei, you could marry him and have Hiro as your stepson," suggests Yukina in a soft dreamy voice.

"We'll see." At that moment, the door taps again.

"Good mo… oh sorry, shh," Botan hushes herself seeing Hiro asleep. She speaks softly, "Good morning to you. Hi, Leela. I can see Hiro's asleep on you and I don't want to disturb him. I know this is his naptime, so I'll try to keep my voice down."

"How are things with you, Botan?" asks Leela.

"Fine. There was an old man who died earlier and I had to take him to Spirit World. Of course, last night I took Mukuro. I arrived last night and saw you chase after Hiei. I was going to say hi, but you needed to be there with him so I let it be. I know how heartbreaking her death is for him. It's going to take awhile for him to heal from this wound. At least you're here to help him, Leela."

"I'm actually thinking about breaking early and leave here at 4:00. I want to be with him through this."

"Take Hiro with you," suggests Yukina, "I know how much he love his son. Before you arrived at the party last night, he was sitting on the temple steps holding him. You should see Hiei's face when Hiro's with him. He's an excellent father."

"What's going on today, Shizuru? Are we just going to hang out here?" asks Leela, "I don't want to put you out."

"You're not. This is a special Girl Time day. Since you're the new chick in town, we're getting together in your honor. And like I said earlier, we're celebrating American style. I've got a frozen pizza. Keiko's bring a 12-pack of Pepsi. And, did you bring ice cream, Botan?"

"Yes, I've got a box of Rocky-Road right here. Do you have space in your freezer? I want to put this away before it melts."

"Sure, there's always plenty of room for a woman who brings chocolate. Just don't let Kurama find it. He'll put that away in his gut." Leela laughs at Shizuru after her remark.

"Can you hide it from him?"

"Not really. He's a fox demon and foxes have very good noses. You will also notice we've got a lot of meat in there too. Just like any fox, he's a carnivore. So are the kids."

"That sounds like Nibbler. He eats animals whole. He prefers them alive and fresh. He's eaten animals 100 times his size."

"Oh Leela, just so you know, if Saito comes through here, I've told him to be nice. He was being mean about you being a cyclops, called you weird-o. I told him not to be rude. He should know better than to make fun of people. Both he and Sakura have pointy ears and foxtails. If he's mean to you, he won't have his friend over here on Sunday."

"Thanks Shizuru. I appreciate that. I can't tell you how many times I was laughed at because of the eye."

"You want to know what Keiko told me last night," Shizuru informs, "She said her daughter, Megumi, thought your eye looked neat. She wanted to look just like you. Sakura also thinks you're cool like that."

Botan returns from the kitchen. "Are Megumi and Yoshi also coming?"

"Yeah, Megumi and Saito don't have school today since Saranaski has that play. Oh hold that thought." Shizuru opens the door and Keiko walks in with her two.

"How was school?"

Keiko sticks out her tongue and rolls her eyes, while holding the sodas. Shizuru offers to take the cans back to the kitchen. "I don't know why I even bothered showing up. There wasn't much for me to do. We had just one incident; a kid threw up in the hallway on the top floor. The nurse sent him home and the janitor had to clean it up. But after that, there wasn't anything. I did see Kurama and Yusuke before I left. I was told that you want to study Japanese, Leela. I think that's great you want to be more apart of our culture. I also talked to Mr. Seiko and he was thrilled. He teaches Japanese to beginners like you. The class consists of American and British students. The classes are free and easy to take. I'm sure with your brains, you'll have no problems with picking up words and phrases."

"Awesome, Keiko, I'd love to take lessons from him. When can I meet him?"

"Is Monday at noon okay? He's got class with the kids first. But at noon is when you can talk to him while he's on lunch break. I'll bring you by the Teacher's Lounge and you can introduce yourself. He has classes in the evenings at 5:00."

"I've got a monocle glass that can help me read your text. It's programmed to help me read alien languages and it's letting me read your newspapers and signs."

"That's great you've got something like that," comments Shizuru, "I know how difficult it must be for most Americans to read Japanese kanji. I'm glad you've got something to help you. I think it'll help you figure out what the characters mean."

"Yeah, and I'm glad you have something to aide you. Mr. Seiko will be more than pleased. He requests his students to bring dictionaries to class and he wants you to bring anything you can to help you learn the language."

Shizuru walks into the kitchen and removes the pizza box from the freezer. She breaks open the plastic and preheats the oven for 400o. After the temperature sets, she shoves the pizza in the oven and sets the timer for 30 minutes. As she is about to leave the room, she hears Yuki stirring. "Hey, Yukina, I think she's up."

About the same time, Hiro starts to cry. Leela hears a gurgling wail from him. "Is that the cry?"

"Yeah," laughs Keiko, "he's saying I'm hungry. Feed me."

Shizuru pops open the fridge and takes two milk-filled bottles out. She places the bottles in the microwave and sets it for 15 seconds. After the microwave beeps, she insists Yukina to take one of the bottles to Yuki while she takes the other to Hiro. "Leela, I've already tested the bottles and they're ready to go. Do you know how to feed a baby?"

Leela nods and holds Hiro at an angle with one arm and reaches for the bottle with the other hand. She positions the bottle and gives the nipple to Hiro. Almost immediately, he starts to drink. "Like I said, Leela, you're a natural," comments Shizuru.


	9. Chapter 9

At about 2:45, Leela can't stop staring out the window. While holding Hiro fast asleep in one arm, she starts to fidget and raps her fingers on her knee. "What's the matter?" asks Botan.

"I uh…nothing much. What were we talking about? Oh right it was about the play Hi… I mean Yusuke's school is in."

"Leela, it's all right. If you want to leave now for Demon World, by all means."

"Naw I'm fine. I hear the play's about two people in love."

"It's Sound of Music," informs Keiko.

"Right about two in love starring me…I mean Maria."

"Leela, go back to him," recommends Shizuru, "You're obviously upset about staying over here and it's not doing you any good to force yourself."

"She's right," agrees Keiko, "You want to be with Hiei more than anything."

"How about I take you back?" offers Botan.

"Thanks but I can fly myself."

"Leela, you're such a jitterbug right now, you'd probably end up flying into a building or a tree. Besides it won't be just you; Hiro will be with you, won't he?" replies Shizuru, "Please take Botan's request. She'll fly you there."

"You can take the bag on his side of his stroller. There are more bottles with formula in there. Plus there's diapers, a blanket, a sweater incase he gets chilly, and even a sling in there for you incase your arm feels tired from holding him," informs Yukina, "Besides, I'll bet right now, Hiei wants to see him."

"I guess," Leela sighs, as she stands up slowly with the baby. She walks over to the stroller and picks up his bag. She walks out the door and Botan follows her. "Are you sure you can take me to him?"

"No problem," she replies as she produces her oar. Leela straps the bag on her back.

Shizuru runs outside and slides the wristband off. "Sorry, I about kept this thing. You need it more than me. Which arm do you wear it?"

Leela smiles, "Usually I wear it on my right arm. But I've got Hiro in that arm so you can just slide it on my left for now. I'll fix it later at Hiei's."

"By the way, one of my dresses is over there in that closet. You can borrow it tonight. Since Mukuro was a dignitary, we're going to dress formally. I've also got your kimonos with me. I'll bring them by when Kurama and I stop through with the kids."

"Thanks, Shizuru. You're such a good friend. I've never been treated this nicely before."

"Don't worry about that," reassures Botan, "You're one of us now. We never turn our backs on our friends."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm so happy you've accepted me just like that. You don't even care I'm a cyclops."

"Naw, you should be proud," laughs Shizuru, "You're lucky, you've only got one eye to worry about. Besides, I think you look gorgeous like that. I wouldn't change your face."

"Hop on, Leela, you won't fall off the oar," assures Botan, widening the back of the oar for her. Leela hesitates for a moment then slowly sits on it behind Botan. Leela looks at it feeling uneasy.

"Are you sure this is safe?" she asks as the oar lifts the girls into the air.

"Of course it is. Don't worry about it. I'm an excellent pilot." Leela grabs onto the oar with her free hand and holds on tight.

Botan flies slowly, trying to build Leela's confidence. "When you use that jet-thing, you're not this scared."

"I trust in that. I control it with no problems at all."

"This shouldn't be any different then. This oar is made of my own spirit power and it won't drop you. It's like you're holding my hand. This is just the extension."

"Okay, I think I'm feeling better. I'm still feeling queasy, but think I'll be fine."

"We're across the border already and the tower is in sight."

"Wow, Hiro's taking this trip in stride. He's still asleep," Leela sighs in amazement.

"See, if he's calm about this ride, then you should be too. Yeah, he's not worried."

"I'll say he's not worried," Leela sniffs and turns her nose up, "He's decided to relax and take a dump."

"Yep, what a nice way to welcome Daddy, a gift in the diaper. If you want, we can stop by the tower first."

"I know, there's a restroom in the first floor. When I first arrived here I had to use it." The girls land at the tower's main door. Leela notices the main floor lit up, with decorations everywhere. The floor was planked, just like at Genkai's temple. Off to the side of the lit room is a shrine with Mukuro's picture at the top center. "What's all this?"

"This is what a Japanese wake looks like. Hiei and a few other demons that admired and respected Mukuro over the years have set this up. Her body will be in a casket further inside. You'll be able to see her tonight for one last time before she's burned tomorrow."

Leela nods and carries the baby with her into the restroom. A few minutes later she reemerges with Hiro and a brown stain on her shirt.

"Let me guess, he peed on you. He does that to his father all the time."

"I know, both Yukina and Keiko told me about that. Little stinker."

Leela and Botan exit the building and Botan reproduces her oar. "This won't take long to get up to the cave." Leela smiles and hops back on. The two girls fly straight up to the mouth. Botan lands and waits for Leela to knock.

"Hi, are you home?" calls Leela, accidentally waking Hiro.

"Yeah, come on in, Leela."

"Are you coming in too, Botan?"

"Naw, I'll see you all later at the wake. Take care," she hollers back as she takes off into the sky.

'She could have at least stayed for tea.'

"Hiro! Oh my goodness, you've got him with you," Hiei smiles with excitement, "How's my boy? Was he good? Did you bring him here alone?"

"No, Botan brought us by," Leela replies, handing the baby to his overjoyed father, "Hiro slept all the way here. He was such an angel."

Hiei smiles while holding his son. "I was right, he looks just like you."

"Yeah and what a gift Mukuro gave me. In her final weeks, she puts her own life at risk and bears me a son. Like giving me a portion of herself as a reminder of our love. I will cherish him as well as her always."

Later on that evening, Leela and Hiei sit inside the entrance to the tower greeting the guests. Both Hiro and Yuki are asleep in their double stroller with Yukina, as she talks to Shizuru. Leela sees Yusuke and Keiko and waves to them. "How are you two tonight?"

"We're wonderful. I know you didn't know Mukuro at all, but it's nice you're at Hiei's side through this," comments Yusuke. He sighs and looks towards the shrine. "I can still remember mine."

"You've had a wake once? I'm so sorry. Who died?"

"I did."

Leela laughs to herself, then looks at him with a puzzled look, "You're dead? That's not true. You look alive to me."

"Right now, yes. I'm alive just like you. But I had a wake just like this one."

"I've never heard of a wake for a living person. Do you do that too here in Japan?"

"No, just to honor the dead. Here we host it at the home of the deceased loved one. In my case, it was back at my house when I was 14."

"What that's impossible, you died at 14. How old are you now?"

"I'm 27 now."

"So someone my age is telling me he died 13 years ago. But how?"

"I was hit by a car."

"So, you could have just been in a coma."

"No I did die. That's when I met Botan."

"But you're not dead, unless that's an amazing holograph or you cloned yourself."

"Nope I'm not a clone. I came back to life."

Leela shakes her head and sees Botan in the hall. "Could you come here and talk some sense into this man? He's saying he's dead."

"Not now, but he was dead. I took him to Spirit World myself."

"But that's impossible. The dead don't come back unless they've been cloned."

"Nope, he wasn't cloned. He was brought back to life."

"What's going on?" asks Koenma, "This is a wake, not a social club."

"Sorry sir," apologizes Leela, "But I've just been told that this guy's been dead. How is that possible? Especially when he's standing here talking to me, alive as ever."

"Yusuke was dead. I brought him back to life. Not once but twice."

"No the second time I came back on my own."

"That's right, you transformed into a demon."

"So wait, Yusuke's been dead twice, but he's alive. What is this, Snow White?"

"No, it's not a fairy tale. Certainly feels like one, but no it's real. Genkai's been dead too," affirms Yusuke.

"Wait, but didn't we celebrate her birthday yesterday. I see her right now praying at the shrine. She's no where near dead."

"Oh Hiei, I've got good news. Mukuro is in that tiger cub's body I was talking about. She's just been reborn as a tiger about two hours ago," informs Koenma.

"Good, I'm glad she's got a second change in a healthier new body. She deserves a fresh start. I am still going to miss her though."

Leela shakes her head and screams, "What's with you people? How can you make light of death? When someone dies, they're dead and gone forever. How can you act like it's no big deal?" Leela stands up and bolts out of the building with her hand clasped over her mouth. She runs to a light post and leans against it. Her stomach convulses and she throws up on the street. She sees Hiei stand next to her.

"Leela, are you okay?"

Hiei hands her a cloth and she wipes her mouth and starts to cry. "I can't do this. What kind of people are you? I just don't understand. This woman, Mukuro, dies on you and you tell me she's been born a tiger. Yusuke's told me he was a dead man brought back to life and Genkai's been dead but she's alive too. Why do you guys lie about something like this? The dead can't come back." Leela sobs and collapses to her knees on the sidewalk.

Hiei sits beside her and extends his arm over her shoulder. "We're not making death out to be nothing. I've seen Yusuke die with my own eyes. He died in a fight with another strong man, Sensui. Believe me, I felt so helpless watching him die and seeing Kuwabara's heart break. It was more than I could stand. But when my friends and I went to fight Sensui here in Demon World, I was quite pleased to see Yusuke back alive. You've got to remember he's a very strong fighter and has super spirit energy. He's strong and powerful, as well as Kurama and myself. Genkai's pretty powerful herself, and so is old knucklehead."

Leela turns to him with tears in her eye and he holds her head on his shoulders and lets her cry. "It's okay if you don't understand us. You're from a different time and a foreign country. You've only been here for four days. That's quite a lot to take in. I'll let you know something Leela; Koenma is very good at bringing people back to life. That's one of his specialties," Hiei explains, rubbing her back with his nails.

"Leela, you want to know something, I think you've got powers too. I can see it in your eye. You're a pretty strong person. Except by Yusuke, I've been undefeated in hand-to-hand. You're the second human to beat me. I think you'd be an excellent fighter. You've got the will to be a fighter. I can see your spirit inside you. If you want, Koenma can help you release your energy and harness that power."

"I'll think about it," she smiles as she pulls away and brushes the tears from her eye with the side of her hand. Hiei stands to his feet and offers his hands to her. She smiles and accepts his hands. He holds her hand and the two walk back to the wake.

Leela meets Yusuke's eyes then closes her eye in shame. "I'm so sorry how I acted. I can only guess how painful it was for you to die. I don't mean to sound so incisive." She sobs, covering her face with her hands.

Yusuke embraces her in his arms, "It's okay. Leela, I know it's hard to understand. A truth like that is unbearable for anyone to take in. I was in your shoes the first time it happened to me. Even the second time was hard for me to grasp."

"Leela, it's okay. I know it hurts to hear the truth about his death. I witnessed his death myself in Demon's Door cave and I cried," replies Koenma. "But then I was so happy when Yusuke came back to life like nothing happened."

"I still can't believe this. I've never seen anyone come back unless they've been cloned."

"It's good you've got cloning. That might be a good way to prolong life. I wish we had that power now," comments Botan, "It certainly save me the job of taking ghosts to Spirit World."


	10. Chapter 10

Leela draws away from Yusuke and tries to blink the tears out of her eye. She shakes her head and leans her back up against a wall. She tries desperately to control her emotions, but feels unable to stop crying.

'I don't understand. I don't know if I can. You still make it sound like death is no big deal, or you think you can just bring people back with some sort of magic power. There's no way you can just wish it all away.'

Just then Leela's wristband starts to flash violently. "Leela, alert, unidentified intruders are approaching Tokyo. I repeat, unidentified intruders are approaching Tokyo."

"Guys, we've got problems. My Jack-lo-mater has picked up a bunch of unknowns approaching the city. My GPS is indicating they are coming from this area."

"Shit, those damn rogues picked a fine time to cause trouble," snorts Hiei.

Leela pops her dress over her head and reveals a long-sleeved shirt, her black pants, and boots. She hands the dress to Botan. "Take this and put it in the cave. Everyone, may I have your attention? According to my wristband, there are at least 100 unknowns entering Tokyo now. I need strong fighters to help track down and kill these invaders before they cause trouble." Leela preps the gun on her belt and unfolds the jetpack.

"She's right," Yusuke agrees, "I'm sensing demons as well. From what I can tell there's a great deal of them from the wanted list."

"Anyone who isn't a fighter, please stay at the tower. I'm declaring the wake over. Fighters, we need to split into groups and sweep the city for these demons."

"I've come prepared," announces Kurama, "I've got a pocket full of blue-tooths. These will help us stay in contact."

"We've also got Helios to keep track of each other by Google Maps."

"You can talk to me on wristband. I'll be using that. Please program the blue chips and the Helios to 4753, so you can talk to me. I do need your numbers as well."

"What group should I be in?" asks Kuwabara.

"It doesn't matter, it's not like we're picking teams for soccer. We do need teams of five. I know there are demons here from the meeting, I recognize several faces."

"I'll help you blokes. I'm really anxious to teach these guys a lesson," replies Chuu.

"Kurama, how many of those blue-tooths do you have?"

"I've got six here and fourteen more in the car. I figured something like this would happen."

"Same here," replies Yusuke, "Right after the meeting, I went out and bought a bunch of Helios to keep track. I've been fighting these things on my own, but I've fought on a team mission like this."

"I'm coming too," announces Genkai, "I can't just sit by and let the town be ruined or have spiritually-challenged humans killed."

"I appreciate the help, but I don't want you to be killed," worries Leela.

"Dear, I'm just old. I'm not crippled."

"Leela, she's a pretty strong woman. I'd take her help," replies Kurama.

"Okay, but don't say I wasn't looking out for you. One rule, nobody die tonight. I don't want another wake and funeral. Mukuro's death is enough."

"I'll come too, Lassie. I don't want ya thinkin' I'm goin' to have ya fight alone," announces a tall red-hair man.

"Thanks, Jin," remarks Kurama.

"Yeah more help the merrier. You look pretty strong to me," comments Leela.

"I'll help you," announces Ashanti, "I want to send these wretches back where they came from."

"Just don't venture too close to a girly bar, Ashanti," laughs Kurama, "Same with you, Chuu. We don't want to lose you to floozies. Sorry, Leela, that's just how those two are."

"Don't sweat it. Bender's the same way around fembots. I can't tell you how many times we have to go on these missions; we end up finding him in a bar or at a strip club with girls wrapped around him."

"I'll fight, I can sniff out these vermin and attack," announces Arbu.

"I'll go too," replies O'Falla, "I've got the ability to direct my scent straight into the enemy's nose. It makes them retch and gives me time to strike."

"Just use it at the bad guy, O'Falla. I don't want to throw up tonight," sighs Yusuke.

"I'll help too, I can make it like winter for them."

"Even in May?" laughs Leela.

"Touya is good for that," comments Hiei.

"I'll go and use my yo-yos on them," announces a young man.

"Rinku, how good are you now? I haven't seen you since the first Demon Tournament," replies Yusuke.

"I've mastered my skills."

"So have I. I've mastered the Banshee sword."

"That's great Shishiwakamaru. You'll be an asset."

"I'll go. I want to keep my kids safe," announces Shizuru, "I've mastered the Spirit Spear, plus I'm ready to kick their ass."

"I want to go. My father would do the same thing if he was alive, so would Mukuro."

"Have you gotten better since the recent tournament, Shura?" asks Kurama, "You fight just like Yomi used to back when he was young. He was strong."

"I almost won, until Ashanti defeated me in the Finals."

"I, the beautiful Suzuka, will join this party."

"It's not a party, we're going to stop these invaders," corrects Leela.

"I'll join you and be your eyes from the air," announces Botan, "I'm not a fighter, but I want to be some use to you."

"I'll go and show these guys what tigers do for fun."

"Nice to have you on board, Tigrus," comments Kuwabara, "I like your skills. You've mastered the Tiger Scream well. It's better than your brother's."

"That's because he only had trained 1/4th in the skill. Biakko refused to complete his training. Plus his claw technique was pathetic. I've mastered my skills."

"I thought he was lacking in skills. That's why he was so easy for you to beat," snorts Hiei.

"I think we have enough fighters."

"But that's only eighteen people. How are we going to fight 100 demons with just so few?" Kuwabara asks.

"That's enough people. It's good to have a small group. Makes us less visible to the enemy. It's a combat strategy," explains Leela, "If you guys are as powerful as you say you are, then you can defeat them. I've been told Mr. Urameshi is a very powerful individual. If he can handle this mission, then so can you. I believe if we work together, we can remove these intruders before they cause serious damage. I'm tracking their movements so far, and it appears they are hunting. Holy shit! There goes a group! We need to get there now."

Leela starts up her jetpack and maxes the speed. The entire group takes off with her from the tower and Mukuro City. "When we get into town, we'll need to split into groups. Each will take a different section in the city."

"Arbu and Ashanti, you've got strong noses. Could you sniff out demons in the suburbs?" asks Yusuke.

"I'll go with them," replies Kurama, "I know the suburbs well."

A short time later, the group heads to the city and lands on a street just on the outskirts. "I'll go with you, Kurama," announces Kuwabara. All four guys dash off in the direction of the suburbs.

"I'll head to the Red-Light district," announces Jin, "I'm taking Rinku, Tigrus, Sazuka, and Shura."

"Why not me?" replies Chuu in a disappointed tone.

"We're not here to sightsee. Do that on your own time," growls Tigrus.

"Right, you're coming to the business district with Shishi, O'Falla, and me, Chuu," announces Genkai. Her group flies off quickly to the business district.

"That leaves Shizuru, Hiei, Yusuke, Touya and me to check out the district with the school and hospital," replies Leela, "We'll need to meet back here on the street we were just on. Botan, what's the overview like?"

"There's activity in the business district now."

"I've spotted it. Two of the demons are in pursuit of a middle-aged man. Looks like they're chasing him into an ambush."

"Yeah I spot them now," replies Genkai. The woman creates a ball of static in her hands and blasts the two demons giving chase. "There are three more ahead of me."

"I've got them," shouts O'Falla. She drives her scent into the enemies' noses to make them puke. In the middle of the demons' incapacitation, she takes out an antler sword and shreds them to pieces.

"Great job, that's five dead so far," remarks Leela, "Kurama, how are things on you're end?"

"So far we're clear. Arbu is sniffing out their scent now."

"Leela, look straight ahead. There are three lurking in the shadows," warns Hiei.

"Yeah I see them." Leela walks through the alley and sees three dog-faced demons standing in front of her with their claws out and fangs showing. All three slash at her and she runs up and knocks them to the ground with a revolving kick. Before the demons could retaliate, she blasts them all to bits with her proton gun. She spots an old man urinating beside a wall of a building. He looks at her with a panicked look on his face. "Old man, shake it off and get inside now! It's not safe out here!"

"Who are you yellin' at, Lassie?"

"Nobody Jin, never mind that. How are things on your end?"

"They're targetin' the clubs. So far I've killed four. Rinku's killin' one now."

"That's thirteen demons killed," remarks Leela, "Hiei, what's going on?" She watches him leap onto a bridge above them.

"I see three bastards." Leela watches him slice through the demons like lightning.

"There's a pair of lizard demons climbing the walls of the bank. These are two on the wanted list," informs Yusuke. He flies up and kicks them off the wall.

"How dare you get in our way?" hisses one of the demons.

"Yeah, how dare you injure my brother! Die you pest!" hisses the other.

"Oh spare me," rebukes Yusuke, as he creates a ball of static in his hands and disintegrates the two demons.

"Leela, I'm tracking two right now," reports Kurama, "They're chasing a little girl from her house and down the street her. Arbu, do you see her?"

"Yeah," Arbu replies, as he transforms himself into a giant dark brown dog and races on all fours. He catches up to the frightened girl and stands between her and the demons. "Young lady, go home now. It's not safe out here."

"S…sorry," the girl shivers and races back to her house.

Kurama tries to catch up to Arbu when he spots five more hiding behind a fence in someone's yard. Instantly, Kurama slashes his thorny whip and sends a rain of thorns upon the demons, slicing them to pieces. Meanwhile, Arbu catches the two demons in front of him and slashes them with his claws and chews them to shreds with his teeth.

"So far there's twenty-five demons killed," counts Leela.

"Leela, I've got five in my sight," informs Tigrus. He sneaks through a bar and sees three of the demons enter the men's room. He darts into an empty stall and peeks through the door. He watches the bear-faced demons posing in front of a urinal. He waits for them to drop they're guard and then pounces on them and slashes they're heads off at the neck with his claws. Quickly he flashes balls of Tiger Scream at the demons at disintegrates their bodies upon impact.

"Leela, I've spotted three, no four. There are four demons at the train station," reports Botan, "Oh this is bad, they've gotten on a train."

"The train is five miles from my group. Hiei, you seem to be the fastest member in our group. Will you be able to get to the train?"

"I'm already there." He slices open one of the windows and makes his way onto the train. He sees two demons in a seat together, trying to pose as a married couple. They appear human, but he could smell their foul odor and slices them to pieces. He zips into another car and spots a demon sitting on a frightened man lying on his back on the floor of the train. The man panics as the crow-like demon secures its claws on his belly and opens its beak to engulf his face. In its final seconds, the giant bird raises its head and gets diced by Hiei's katana. Hiei dashes to the door and senses the last demon waiting in ambush. He catches the demon on the ceiling and slices it to pieces. "Done, I think that was all on this train."

"Hiei, there's one more on the train. It's at the switchboard."

"That's just the conductor. Wait I sense it here. Sir, pardon me for doing this." Hiei swiftly punches the man in the stomach and makes him vomit. Quickly, Hiei spots a poisonous worm-like demon squirming around the floor. He smashes it and slices it, while holding his nose shut in the process. Quickly he juts out of the train to breath fresh air again.

"Are you all right, Hiei? You sound sick."

"I'll be fine, Leela. That last one was poisonous."

"Leela, I've killed the last two in this bar," reports Tigrus, "I'm sensing more in the strip club across the way.

"Hey guys, there's a huge number at Saranaski Junior High," reports Botan.

"What! That's where the play is. The place is packed with people," snorts Yusuke.

"I'll meet you there," promises Kurama, "What's the number?"

"Damn, there's at least twenty demons lurking about," reports Leela, "Shizuru and I are about a mile from the school. Touya is fighting with three demons right now."

"Hn, I'm heading to the school myself. I've got three in my way first." Hiei spots the three giant bat-like demons flying through the air, searching for a meal. One demon senses him coming and swerves around in mid-flight. It dodges at him swiftly and tries to eat him whole. It closes its jaws around him, but barely garbs his coat instead, as he slices the creature in half from mouth to tail. The other two follow it and try to snatch him up in their jaws. He incinerates the demons and burns them to ashes.

"Yusuke, where are you?" inquires Leela.

"I got held back. Ten demons decided to tackle me all at once. I had to use my shotgun blast on them. Touya and I are half a mile from you."

"Genkai, how are things where you are?" asks Leela.

"We've caught ten demons already. I've blasted two, Chuu's killed four, and Shishi's got four he's fighting now. Don't destroy the windows, Shishi."

"Sorry Master, I still need practice controlling the sword. So far I've killed three of them. I've got this one I'm fighting now. He's proving difficult…to…there. Now he's dead with the rest of his friends."

"Leela, I've just killed eight more in the Red-Light district. I followed Jin into a strip club and we saw them mixed in the crowd. They were hard to spot at first, but then they were each being led away by a woman. You could…"

"Rinku, she doesn't need to know all the details. She's just interested in the kills, not naked women," scolds Jin.

Leela and Shizuru meet up again with Yusuke and Touya at the front of the school. In just a few minutes Hiei rejoins the group along with Kurama.

"Guys, listen up. My wristband is telling me that there are five demons out front and fifteen inside."

"Oh good, so we've got a welcoming committee at my school," sneers Yusuke.

"I sense them already, Urameshi. They don't seem so tough to beat," snorts Hiei.

"We've got a problem though. One huge demon is in the gym."

"Damn, my guess is he's laying low until Intermission. I'll get to him before he hurts anyone. Right now the kids are singing. I think they're up to the part when Maria meets the VonTrapp family. Intermission is after the song "Do-Re-Mi"," informs Yusuke.

"Just be careful, okay."

"Don't worry, Leela, I'm used to dealing with giants. I'll probably have him dead before he knew what happened."

"I'll take the top floor with Touya," informs Shizuru.

"I'm going to sweep the third floor," informs Kurama.

"That leaves the main and second floors."

"I'll sweep the main floor," informs Hiei, "But I don't sense very many demons there."

"Let's meet back here on this sidewalk."

Hiei races past the front wall and into the schoolyard. He spots a dog-faced guard with four rottweilers. "Young man, you're trespassing on school grounds."

He looks at the guard with distrust and the dogs snarling at him. He snorts and slices them to pieces. "Like you can fool me old man."

"How did you know they were demons?" asks Leela.

"Well, why would there be no trespassing during a public event?"

"You've got a point."

The group races inside, each to his or her designated floor. Leela preps her gun and sneaks through the second floor, checking the classrooms. She locates two demons hiding in a chemistry lab. She slides the door open and peeks inside. She searches the ceiling and the room. Suddenly she feels something sneak up behind her. She immediately turns to see a giant black dog-demon with red eyes growling at her. She screams and shoots at it in the face. The face explodes but regenerates itself. It continues to walk towards her, snarling and making her walk backwards. She jumps to the ceiling and kicks it in the face. It falls to the ground, but quickly returns to its feet. Leela shoots her gun at it and the demon knocks it out of her hands with its nose. She pushes against it, trying to make it submit. It snaps at her, threatening to bite. She races up its throat and kicks it in the face. Leela lands next to one of the lab tables and sits against, watching the demon approach her. Her hand knocks over a beaker containing a pair of forceps. She grabs the forceps and quickly she jams it into the creature's eye. The demon becomes distracted by the obstruction and tries to pry it out, causing its eye to bleed profusely. Leela quickly leaps onto the table spots her gun on the floor next to the teacher's desk. She swoops onto the floor and crawls quickly to the desk and collects her weapon. She sees the demon turn and tear the forceps from its eye and immediately she blasts the demon several times and disintegrates its entire body. Before she has time to catch her breath, Leela tries to search for the other demon in the room. She sees another dog-demon pounce on her. Just as she raises her gun to it, she hears a familiar voice call out Rose-whip at the top of his voice and the demon is sliced to bits in front of her.

"Thank you, Kurama," she gasps; trying to catch her breath, "I owe you one." She closes her eye and wipes the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.

"No problem, I heard you scream and I just came here as fast as I could. You're an excellent fighter. I like your quick reflexes and judgment. You're like me, in a sense."

"Are all demons that hard to kill?"

"They can be. Some harder than others."

"How's everything going? I heard you scream, Leela. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Shizuru, what's going on?"

"Touya and I have tracked three demons up here. Two have gone into the girls' restroom. I'll go in there incase someone is in there using it, Touya."

"Are you sure you'll be fine in there with two?" asks Touya.

Shizuru walks into the restroom and sneaks along the wall of stalls. She sees three stalls in use. She feels strong demonic energy from two of the stalls. The one to her left feels strong. She touches the door to feel her hand become filled with static. She rips open the door to find a girl sitting on the toilet.

"Do you mind?" the girl retaliates. Shizuru looks to see a huge shadow behind the girl. Then she looks into the eyes of the girl. Shizuru sees the girl's eyes with bright red. She immediately grabs the girl, yanks her out of the stall, and flings her to the floor, exposing an enormous green tail. Without hesitation, she raises her hand and flings her Spirit Spear through the demon's chest, killing it.

Immediately, Shizuru feels the other two filled stalls. Suddenly she spots another lizard girl slither along the back wall on her right. She yanks the door open and catches the demon by her tail. Shizuru flings her spear at its heart and kills it instantly. Just to be sure she knocks on the last occupied stall. "Are you okay in there?"

"Geez, what's going on out there?" the girl screams, "Can't I just shit in peace?"

"It's okay, Touya, both demons are killed," Shizuru reports. "Hang on, Leela, Baby Bro's in my ear. Speak up please."

"Yeah, I've just killed five demons on Urameshi's street, and Ashanti's got three he's fighting now. Where are you? I hear singing."

"We're at the junior high. Kurama's here as well."

"Should I come help you?"

"Please stay where you are. We've got six fighters here."

"Alright, damn I've spotted several more up ahead. Wow, there's ten."

"You be careful," warns Shizuru, "Did you get that, Leela?"

"Yes, and speaking of, I'm getting something from Yusuke. Please, what's going on?"

"Yeah, the "Do-Re-Mi" song is just starting and I've located the demon. Shit, he's disguising himself as a prop right on stage. I'm coming in towards the back now."

"Hn, I'll come help you, Urameshi. I've just cleared the main floor and killed five demons."

"Great job, Hiei. That's fifteen dead so far."

"Correction, sixteen. I caught the demon as it was slithering out of a classroom. Luckily it was a cobra-demon and I sent ice shards its way."

"Good job, Touya. That means there's four left."

Leela and Kurama leave the classroom and scan the halls. Suddenly she sees something slink into a boys' restroom and swing the door. She creeps along the wall with her gun in her hand. She finds the door and pushes it open. She sees the room empty, and finds all the stall doors open and nobody in any of them. She inches towards the urinals, searching with her gun pointing at them, but finds nobody using them. She comes to the sinks and starts to turn on one of the faucets. She looks up at the mirror with a start to see a young man with a Nazi uniform on and standing next to her.

"Hey, lady, this is the men's room. No girls are allowed in here," he rebukes her with an angry deep tone.

She looks to her side and sees nobody there. She looks at the mirror again and sees the boy again. Suddenly her eye widens. "You're the one that doesn't belong in here. Get out of the mirror."

"But that's just a mirror. Why would I be there? Silly girl," the boy growls at her, fangs showing from his mouth and claws growing from his fingers.

"Kurama, is there something out there to make something visible?" she yells, backing away from the sinks towards the urinals. Leela raises her gun as her wristband flashes wildly and shows her the image of something large in front of her.

"Yeah, there's a fire extinguisher." He breaks the glass and grabs it. He flings open the door and sprays it in her direction. Immediately she sees a giant form in front of her. The demon flashes its teeth at her and slashes at her with its claws. She dodges out of its way and slides towards the doorway. She aims her gun and fires at the beast with proton rays and blasts it to pieces. She checks her wristband again to see it vanished.

"Imagine if someone had come in here to pee or wash his hands, that thing would have nabbed him for sure," Leela gasps, placing her hand upon her chest, feeling her heart beat in her throat.

"Yeah, good thing you figured it out in time. You think the same way I do. I like how you think through a problem quickly and solve it. Are you a strategist?"

"Maybe, but I have to deal with aliens on a daily basis. I just think of these things like aliens and apply the same principle."

Leela starts to collapse to the floor and Kurama catches her. "Are you all right?"

"I feel dizzy and I can't see."

"You need to rest, you've had three really bad scares. Those demons were B-class. That's a very tough class to beat."

"I thought they were all Zenith class. That's what Koenma said."

"Most of them are. Those three are almost as strong as Hiei and myself. These demons at the school must be in charge of the smaller classes."

"What's the strongest?"

"S-class. The second is A-class."

Leela shakes her head and tries to stand. She stumbles a bit, but regains sturdiness in her legs.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" asks Kurama in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm ready to fight again." Leela looks at her wristband. "There are three above us."

"Yeah, I sense them too." The two fighters race to a nearby stair well and ascend. They approach the third floor and spot two shadows moving across the hallway. Leela sees lights coming from the nurse's station. She ushers him to slink along the wall beside the door. She peeks in and sees a nurse holding a boy's head over a bucket, letting him puke. She looks at the nurse's face and sees an old woman in her late 60s.

"What's going on in there?" whispers Kurama, trying to sneak a peek himself.

"There's a nurse with a sick boy. She's wearing all white, and the boy is in a blue shirt and blue pants."

"Nothing out of the ordinary for him so far. That's this school's uniform for boys."

"Something's bugging me though, why would there be a nurse here this late?"

"Sometimes there are classes at night. Maybe he got sick during the play." Kurama looks at the boy's face then looks at the nurse's. Suddenly he gets a puzzled look. "That nurse looks familiar."

"You mean you've seen her before? Do you work with her?"

"No, but I've seen her face somewhere. Now I remember, there was a dedication of the school a few weeks ago. It was celebrating its centennial. The school was name after the first principal, Seiichi Saranaski. His picture is in the office here. His wife was a nurse here. Her name was Ritsuko Saranaski. They had a son together and then he married and gave them a grandson 30 years later. This boy is their grandson." Kurama looks at the boy's face. Suddenly he begins to sweat and clenches his whip.

"What's the matter? You look as white as a ghost."

"It was during World War II, Mrs. Saranaski and her grandson, Ringo had moved from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Ringo was still attending school here, but the morning of August 6th, 1945, he was home sick with his grandma. Both didn't make the bombing. They died in their homes."

"So those two are ghosts?" asks Leela in a startled voice, "But my wristband is picking up vital signs from those two."

"Let's move in, now," commands Kurama. Leela nods and quickly opens the door. The lights flicker off and the old woman and the boy quickly vanish. Suddenly the door slams shut and locks by itself.

"My wristband still says they're in here."

"Are you feeling okay? Where does it hurt?" they hear a grumbling voice from the shadows.

"Show yourselves, demons. We know you're here," demands Leela.

"We'll show you right before you die."

Leela senses something swoop down to grab her, but she ducks and swerves out of its way. She sees the woman's face and kicks it in with her boot, only to have the woman disappear again. She sees the demon's body smashing the lights on the ceiling. Leela shields herself from the falling glass. She sees a shard scrape across something and sees a cut, bleeding. She touches the blood with her finger and rubs her finger across the air. She feels scales with her finger and punches the air as hard as she can. Immediately, she feels the rush of breeze and hears the demon fall against the table, knocking over a tray of instruments.

"That's it, Leela. Now it's visible."

"You can see it?"

"Yes, and now smell it. The demon was hiding itself and its odor. But now the blood is easy to track."

"That's the last mistake for you, human," she hears it growl.

"Quick, give me your whip."

Leela creates a loop. Quickly she feels the rush of thick air brush by. She reaches with the whip and watches the torso bend the whip, breaking its skin against the thorns. She hears it shriek in pain, as it flies back to the ceiling. Leela finds a tray of needles and hands some to Kurama. She sees the wound on its body and stabs a needle at the wound. She uses the whip with another needle and stabs it through as the creature zips by directly at her and she quickly stabs the needle with the whip at the assumed head and draws the whip to what she feels to be the neck. Quickly she grabs the neck and hurls the creature to the ground. She twists the whip around the neck, using the needle to hold the whip in place.

"Quick, before it escapes," she shouts.

Kurama combines the needles with a stick of bamboo and sprouts spears, hurling them into the beast. It swerves in pain trying to free itself. Finally, Leela takes out her gun and blasts it, disabling its invisibility. She sees the creature finally subdued, but she feels uneasy about the fight.

"I don't like this, that was too easy. There's still something here."

"That must have been their distraction for us," replies Kurama.

"Shit, that thing we fought was a decoy. I see them; they're running."

"Don't worry they won't get far, when they locked the door and sealed us in this room, they brushed by me and I planted death seed on them."

Leela glances down the hallway and sees the old woman and the boy faced down. "So we fought this creature even after you realized it was a trick? Why did we even waste time with it?"

"If we hadn't fought it and someone came in here sick tomorrow, he or she would have been killed. Most humans can't see the unknown, and by the time they figure out something wrong, it's too late for them."

"There's class on Saturdays?"

"There's a vocational group that teaches here on Saturdays. Some of the college students use this building for job training courses."

"I think that's all of them, except for one. Which way is the gym?"

"It's downstairs on the second floor." Leela and Kurama walk past the two demons with shoots and leaves growing out of their chests. She sees blood and pus oozing out with the plant. She covers her mouth and blasts the two with her gun to bits. Still the image clings to her mind and she races to a girls' restroom with Kurama following her.

"Are you all right?" he asks her, worriedly.

She tries to calm herself down, trying not to retch. She walks to a sink and cups water in her hand, drinking it. "I'm used to fighting like this and used to weird monsters, but I've never been this scared. I'm trying to help you guys out, but I don't know how much more I can take." She covers her face with her hands, "You're all counting on me but this place is still foreign to me."

He hugs her, letting her cry, "Leela, it's okay. I know you're trying to brave through things here. These demons are indeed scary. I was scared back in the Chem. Lab that you were going to die. You put on such a brave face and tried to get through these fights. I've had my share of scary fights when I thought I was going to die. It's okay to be scared, that's part of what makes you human. You're a tough woman. You act quickly in the face of danger and you try to work through a problem, even if it seems impossible. I believe that's the reason Hiei loves you the most. He likes strong, independent women. He likes a woman who is intelligent, witty, charming, and brave. I wish he'd seen you fight. Maybe he will still, if you're ready for one more fight. I've just heard over the blue-tooth that Yusuke's got it outside. He's having a real time with it."

"Where is it?"

"It's outside in the school yard." Leela peals out of the restroom and races into a nearby classroom. There she sees the monster outside and several fighters tackling it.

"It's huge, it sort of looks like a giant serpent. And it's breathing…"

"No way, it's a dragon."

"How was that mistaken for a prop?" Leela tries to pull away from the window but gets restrained by Kurama, "Let go, I need to get down there."

"We'll jump from here," he insists, "Don't worry, I've got you."

Leela slides the window open and the two fighters jump and land on their feet like cats. Leela regains her balance and the two split from the rear of the dragon.


	11. Chapter 11

Leela races towards the tail and tries to slide towards its legs. She manages to thrust her feet against it and knock it off balance. It snaps in her direction and she shoots it in the face. Hiei slices its neck, but is met with a newly regenerated head. Leela races up its back and grabs the neck with her legs in a chokehold and twists the dragon into the ground, breaking its neck. The dragon stumbles onto its feet with a new head.

"It keeps regenerating heads," sneers Yusuke.

"Yeah, so mega blast the damn thing," shouts Hiei.

"What if someone comes out and sees that?"

"The more important thing is to destroy it before that happens," replies Leela. "I've got a strategy if you'll follow my lead."

She dodges into a tree and lunges at the beast, flinging it to the ground. "Kurama, something's strange about this demon. He doesn't seem to be putting up a fight at all. It's like the monster in the Nurse's Station."

"Damn, it's a decoy. The demon must still be inside," grumbles Yusuke.

"Usually my wristband goes off when there's danger, but I was wondering why it wasn't now."

Leela blasts the dragon with her gun several times and destroys it, revealing a tiny piece of paper.

"That's a trick demons and psychics use. It's shikigami. This demon is using it like a puppet," Kurama explains.

"I'm still picking up the demon in the gym," informs Leela.

"We should go after him then," replies Yusuke.

"Hold that idea; I've been trying to figure something out," ponders Leela, "This whole night seems rather suspicious. What level are you picking up in there?"

"Probably a B-class," Yusuke assumes.

"B-class? Not too long ago after Kurama and I fought a demon in the restroom, he mentioned that both he and Hiei are in that level themselves. Now to me, if I didn't know their true natures, I'd think they were ordinary men. You look human."

"I'm not human. Please don't lump me in as human," snorts Hiei.

"That's not what she means. Back at the hospital, the two of you walking in didn't look suspicious. One of the nurses walked outside to smoke, while we were talking in the lounge. She didn't think much about you, as if you and Leela were just a normal couple talking to me."

"That's what I'm thinking here. What if one of the audience members is a demon puppet master? If he looked human, nobody would notice."

"I didn't see anything from the crowd. The only demon I saw was this dragon."

"That's what he wanted you to find, Yusuke. Didn't it look strange that the dragon didn't try to escape to the other parts of the city, even when you were fighting it?" asks Kurama.

"I've got something else bugging me. Before we came out here, Kurama and I fought two demons that looked like the founder's wife and grandson."

"You saw Mrs. Saranaski and Ringo? Of all the disguises, why those two?" asks Yusuke.

"The boy was wearing a blue pantsuit and the nurse a white dress. You're from this school. When did the school start issuing the boy's uniform?"

"The first known date was March 27th, 1957. Before then, it was a faded gold color."

"That's what I figured from the information my wristband gathered. From what Kurama told me, the boy and his grandma died in Hiroshima in 1945. Is that what you read, or were you told that by someone?"

"I remember seeing it happen. I was in my fox form back then. I came across their home after the attack. They were nothing but charred skeletons."

"That proves nothing. In fact, in an atomic blast, nothing remains, not even the ashes. Is it possible what you saw were decoy skeletons?"

"The deaths were staged?" asks Yusuke in a surprised voice.

"It's not hard to stage a death. You remember when Kuwabara's death was staged. You assumed he was dead. It takes a strong crafty opponent to make it look real," replies Kurama.

"It would seem these demons tonight have perfected the art. They've got you confused too."

"What how so? I've been around for 1000 years and I'm not so easy to deceive. I did suspect one thing. I planted death seeds on the two demons in the Nurse's Station. When they died, blood and pus seeped out."

"Does that usually happen?" asks Leela.

"No, the death plant feeds on the blood and bodily fluids and doesn't let them bleed."

"Those demons were decoys. Apparently, these demons we're hunting are masters at setting up bait. I've been running a background check and it's got me thinking. How do the demons know what the Mrs. Saranaski and Ringo looked like? Why of all the people at this school, would they portray two that supposedly died more than 60 years ago?"

"Unless those two were the appearances of the real demons still seated in the audience," realizes Kurama.

"I've been searching the internet on my wrist-thing for the name Seiichi Saranaski. It's turned up something interesting. There was a man with the same name back in the Sengoku Era in this country. It was said he was a teacher who was arrested for secretly eating humans. He was supposed to be executed for cannibalism when he escaped and fled into the woods and into Demon World. According to Demon World Archives he was arrested by Mukuro and became her servant."

"So, there was a guy enslaved to Mukuro by the same name. That happens all the time, a descendent carrying on his ancestor's name," informs Yusuke. "What happened to him after he worked for Mukuro?"

"I checked the lineage myself on my Helio," replies Kurama, "There is nobody listed between the Seiichi from the Feudal era and the one who founded the school. That's 400 years apart in time."

"No humans live that long. Even Professor Farnsworth is only going to live until he's 160."

"Are you saying the founder of the school is a demon?" asks Hiei, "What we were fighting were decoys? The demons were real to me."

"They probably enticed the demons to come here for promises of food. The demons are human eaters and the audience here is like an open buffet," suspects Yusuke.

"When did Mukuro have Hiro?"

"March 25th of this year."

"When did she get sick?"

"Two days later, she was having complications from childbirth."

"But she was fine between the two dates?"

"She was in pain but was given a sedative."

"Other than when the date the new uniforms, wasn't the school founded on March 27th, 50 years earlier?"

"Yeah, we just celebrated the centennial on that date," answers Yusuke.

Leela ponders for a moment to herself the looks at her wristband. Her eye widens. "Do you see this?" She points to a picture on her wristband. She sees an old man with a woman and a boy. "Don't these three look like the demons we're hunting?"

"How are you getting the picture?" asks Yusuke.

"Do you remember when we were outside the school grounds and you volunteered to find and capture the demon in the gym? I planted a micro camera from my wrist-thing on you. When you entered the gym, it blew off like dust and has been clinging to the stage curtain ever since. Nobody can see it because it's so tiny. But it sees the three demons and is even giving me coordinates where they are."

"So you want me to grab them? Won't they flee from us too quickly?" asks Yusuke.

"They'll come out here. We're going to lure them out here with one of their shikigami. Kurama, can you transform this into something they would intreged by."

"It would have to only be seen by demons, I've got it. Mukuro's ghost." He transforms the shikigami into the embodiment of Mukuro." The spirit walks through the entrance and floats towards the stage. Leela sees one of the demons looking with disgust on its face. The ghost floats over the unaware audience and stands in front of the three demons.

"Come outside and find me," Kurama says in Mukuro's voice, "You thought you could kill me, stupid slave? How dare you think that!" Mukuro's ghost vanishes into the night.

Leela watches the three storm out of the theater at Mukuro's command. "Here they come guys. The side door is opening. Quick take cover. Kurama, ready your Mukuro puppet now."

The fake Mukuro stands in the middle of the school yard with her arms crossed. "What's the meaning of you summoning me out here?" demands Seiichi.

Leela uses the voice mimcry on her wristband to speak for Mukuro. "I should be asking you that, Seichii. Did you think you could silence me in such a cruel way?"

"Mukuro, how dare you after you enslaved me all those years ago. I had to free myself from you."

"After your imprisonment in this villiage, you fled to my tower for refuge. I gave you shelter from the hunters and you begged to work for me. I specifically said you didn't have to work for me but you insisted."

"I had no choice. I had to either work for you or risk being beheaded."

"So you chose the coward's way out and worked for me. What a noble demon you must be."

"I had to flee your tower and provide for my wife."

"So you opened this school in Tokyo."

"That was the only way I could live in the Human World undetected."

"Yeah and still be near your food supply. What a convenient place to have your daily needs met."

"Hey you're one to talk, Mukuro. You eat humans too."

"Yeah but I also don't break the laws either."

"That law was that brat's idea. Raizen went soft and that kid of his outlawed the human hunting altogether."

"The Demon World Board and the Human World Council agreed on that law. I approved it myself. That's why human farms were created, to satisfy the hunger of man-eaters like us."

"My wife and my grandson can't live on just harvested humans. We've been hunting for centuries without restraints. I say it's Urameshi's fault we can't hunt anymore, and you got soft too, Mukuro."

"Don't blame others because you don't like the laws. Those are meant to keep the Human World safe from the likes of you."

"Mukuro, I've had enough of you. You should have been long gone by now. Ever since you fell in love with that worthless fire demon, you've been nothing but trouble. You and he blocked every attempt for me. My family is starving. We need food. But then ten months ago you became heavy with child and your powers weakened. That should have been our opportunity to conduct a much-needed raid."

"That's when I doubled the guard protection across the border. I knew you would seize my moment of vulnerability and make your advances into the Human World."

"I needed to wait to when you were most vulnerable."

"You mean the day of my labor, right?"

"How are you still alive after that? Are you a god or something?"

"How do you mean, worthless demon? I was suffering from childbirth complications. At least that's what the doctor told Hiei." Leela's eye widens and she texts a message on her wristband to Hiei.

"Stay calm, but I was thinking it had to have been foul play that killed her." She texts the same message to the other fighters.

"I was there when Hiro was born. Kurama helped deliver the baby, but I did see an unfamiliar-looking face in the room. I stayed by her bed for two days with the baby. I just stepped out of the room for a few minutes on the second day because nature called. I came back in and that's when she became sick. I saw this guy zip away from her bedside, never to be seen again.

Mukuro vanishes in front of Seiichi and Leela rises up from the bushes and points her gun in his face. "Now I can see what you've done. You've had this whole thing planned from the start."

"What did you do? Why can't I move?"

"While you've been confessing, I've ensnared your feet slowly in my vines," replies Kurama. "We had it figured that you were behind Mukuro's illness."

"But she died on her own. I was here in town. I've got an alibi. I was that old psychic's party. She was talking to me."

"No she wasn't, you're a master at making decoys. Who called her to get Hiei and I over to Mukuro's Tower?"

"One of the nurse's called you, I guess."

"Another question, how did you know Mukuro died, we never told you that?" sneers Kurama.

Leela replies, "I'll bet I know the reason for having the play and the wake on the same night. He knew strong demons, like Hiei and Kurama, and powerful humans like Genkai and Yusuke would be occupied at Mukuro's wake. That would give him and his band of demons an easy raid over the city tonight. You knew there would be a heavy concentration of people at this play. That's why you wanted it to be performed tonight."

"But how did you find out? The whole evening was perfectly set up. I had this planned for years. How dare you spoil my plans, cycloptic bitch?"

"It almost went uncheck, too," answers Kurama, "But you didn't count on there being a girl from the future with sensitive and accurate technology. Leela was able to pick up your actions from even 100s of miles away. Her technology is so good, she can watch you take a piss without even being spotted."

"I think this cretin is overdue for his execution date," grumbles Hiei. He disappears and reappears in an instant in front of Seiichi. Kurama continues to hold the vine around Seiichi's and grows it around his body gradually.

The group sees a streak zip by and grab Leela's gun. Immediately she sees it to be Ringo, "Don't you hurt my grandpa, or I'll blow this woman's head off." He points the gun straight at Leela's face, and wraps his other arm around her neck.

"Foolish mistake, Ringo!" Leela sneers, trying to loosen his grasp. She grabs him by the wrist and quickly hurls him to the ground in front of her. He bounds to his feet and races to grab her waist and is met with a back-flip kick to his face. He grabs her leg and tries to twist it when she grabs his hair and flings him to the trunk of a tree.

"What are doing to my Ringo, you bitch?" shouts the woman, racing towards Leela.

"Ritsuko, you leave them alone and deal with me," shouts Yusuke, dashing in front of the woman and punches her in the face.

"You bastard, how dare you hit a lady?"

"You and your husband have caused enough trouble," Yusuke sneers, "Normally I don't like fighting women, you're so disgusting that you're the exception."

"Bastard, how dare you hurt Grandma?" Ringo charges forward, only to have his shirt grabbed by Leela and is yanked to the ground.

"Why don't you save time and kill all three of us?" demands Seiichi, with his body being clinched by the vine.

"You're right, torture isn't my thing, but why such a quick painless death? You're the ones who killed Mukuro like that. I'll just bet the sedatives you gave her for her post-labor pains were really a slow poison to keep her sick," sneers Hiei.

"Tylenol laced with trace amounts of morphine and strychnine. Not enough to kill right away, but that's what I found in her blood. Her health was failing because she was being tortured by the drug," informs Kurama, "There isn't an antidote for that sort of poisoning."

"That's all I needed to here," retorts Leela as she races towards Ringo. He zips out of her way and grabs her around the waist. She jabs him in the stomach and smacks in the face with her fist. He grabs her again and she twists around and snaps his arm in two and hurls him to the ground. He races towards her and lunges at her, trying to grab her with his unbroken arm. She dodges and grabs him by the shoulders and kicks him in the nuts. Ringo steps backward, doubling over in pain. She quickly takes the opportunity with Ringo distracted and rotates a kick to his face and hurls him to the ground on his back. She follows his head to the ground with her legs and quickly twists his head with her feet and breaks his neck.

Kurama turns his head away from Leela with a cringe. "Remind me to guard myself if I ever got into an intense fight with you."

"You said it," Yusuke balks, "Busting a guy in the balls might not be a conventional style of fighting, but it certainly is practical."

"Ringo!" shouts Ritsuko, "You bitch, how dare you kill my grandson!"

"How many grandparents never saw their grandkids again because of you?" retorts Yusuke, slamming her into the ground.

Suddenly, Seiichi becomes enraged and starts to transform his body. Fangs quickly emerge out of his mouth and claws sprout from his fingers. Simultaneously, his wife transforms with him, growing claws and fangs. Both demons burst their clothes as black fur grows out of their skin.

"Kurama, I wondered why we never mentioned his son and daughter-in-law. Those things in the lab…"

"You destroyed my son! You'll pay for that!" growls Seiichi. He quickly shreds the vines and charges after Leela. Leela bounds into the air and flips back towards a tree, grabbing a thick branch with her hands. She lands next to the truck, preparing for the old man's assault.

Hiei zips in front of her, "You're not touching her, you piece of trash."

"I can handle him, I've got an attack for him."

"Yeah and I like how you handled the grandson, but," he sighs with a calming smile, "How can I live with myself if this cretin killed the woman I love?"

"Thanks," she smiles back. Quickly she refocuses her eye on Seiichi. Hiei lunges at the demon, slashing his sword, dicing the creature's head into pieces. He sees the head repair itself and the beast smashes the tree to the ground and whips after him.

"Leela, are you all right?" Hiei asks with a start.

"I escaped the tree when I saw him approach just now. I forgot to mention, these creatures don't die so easily," Leela informs, standing on the ground beside Ringo's body. Quickly she spots her gun on the ground and races to grab it.

"Oh no you don't, bitch," growls Ritsuko, charging at Leela, "Prepare to die."

Kurama springs out of the bush and snaps his whip at the demon, grabbing it by the neck.

Leela dodges and slides to the ground, grabbing her gun.

"Leela, get out of the way now," Yusuke orders, as he zips between her and the beast. Leela nods and races towards the fallen tree.

"Ritsuko, I've got an attack just for you. Kurama, have you got her secured."

While standing amidst the tree, Leela watches in amazement as she sees an enormous ball of static light grow on Yusuke's right palm. He aims his hand straight at the creature.

"How's he doing that? My gun does that too, but Yusuke's just using his hand?"

"The energy is coming from the index finger, actually," replies Hiei, "See how he's just extended that finger. It's like your gun, except he's drawing energy from his body and the surrounding area."

"How dare you, you wretch!" growls Seiichi.

"Seiichi, I've got enough energy to take you and your wife out at the same time."

Hiei quickly grabs Leela and zips away onto a distant tree with her in his arms. She watches as Yusuke releases his ball of energy towards the two creatures. In a violent flash, the creatures are ripped to shreds and disintegrate. Leela quickly checks her wristband to find the two creatures have completely vanished.

"Thank goodness. The demons are all gone," Leela sighs.

"Great job guys," Leela hears Botan's voice from the sky.

"I'm sure glad we got to these cretins before they hurt anybody," replies Yusuke. Just as he speaks, Leela's eye opens wide to something moving towards Yusuke.

"Yusuke! Get down now!" screams Leela. Quickly he dives to the ground and Leela aims her gun at Ringo flying towards him and three rounds of proton blasts at Ringo and blows him to pieces.

Both Yusuke and Botan look at Leela in amazement. "Now that was awesome!" Yusuke comments.

"Anything from the other groups," Leela sighs with a yawn.

"Oh yeah, we did it. All 100 demons have been destroyed." Botan notices Leela's body slump in Hiei's arms, "Leela, are you okay?"

"She's asleep. This battle was intense for her. She must have used up all of her energy."

Leela replies in her sleep, "No, I'm fine. I can still fight. Who's next?"

"Hey Botan, I'm just going to take her back to the cave. She's fatigued and so am I."

Hiei leaps into the air and bounds across the trees, carrying Leela in his arms. He crosses the border and returns swiftly to the cave. He lays her body on the bed and removes her boots and her wristband. Slowly she opens her eye and looks at him. Slowly she sits up.

"Leela, please rest. You've done enough tonight. I loved watching you fight."

"Thanks," she yawns, "but I'm not interested in sleeping in my clothes or wetting the bed."

"Of course," he complies, helping her stand.

She grabs a t-shirt from the closet and saunters into the bathroom. She slides her pants from her waist and pulls the shirt over her head and torso. She quickly unfastens her bra and proceeds to sit on the toilet, topless. She holds her face with her hands, while she pees. With every blink of her eye, she still sees the events of the evening. She stands up and shakes her head. She removes her underwear and walks towards the tub. She opens the faucets and lets the water from the showerhead become lukewarm. She slides her scrunchy off of her ponytail and shakes her hair free. Leela closes her eye and steps into the shower, letting the water soak her face. She still sees a monster like Seiichi, in her mind and tries to wash him away from her mind. Flashes of Yusuke's attack loop in her mind like a worn out CD player. She applies shampoo to her hair and washes her hair. She lets the soap from her hair rinse over her whole body. She reaches down and turns the shower back off and wraps a towel around her body.

"I can't do this!" she screams and runs to the bed with the towel still around her body.

"Leela, what's wrong?" Hiei races in and sees her curled into a ball on the bed.

"I should never have come here to this century. Why did I come? I was so scared tonight. I can't get these horrible visions out of my head. Every time I close my eye, I see one of those dog-like creatures. I was really afraid I was going to die," she cries, rocking on her bed. Hiei holds her tight, while sitting on the bed next to her.

"Shh…shh, it's okay. I know how terrifying demons can get. I know what it's like to think thing your fighting might end your life without much thought."

She shrugs off her towel and buries her face into his shoulder. She weeps and holds onto him. He wraps his arms around her shoulders. 

"You want to know something. You're the bravest, smartest woman I know. Kurama told me in thought transfer how you fought against Seiichi's son and how quick you were to defeat him. Most people, when confronted with that sort of danger, run away. Those were B-class level demons and you were able to kill them without hesitation. You stood your ground and refused to give up. I like how you figured out that dragon was nothing more than an overgrown piñata. You saved Yusuke a bunch of energy he could have wasted on something trivial."

"I'm not as brave as you think. I really wanted to run away. But I didn't want to leave you guys. I wanted to help you handle the situation."

"By the way, how did you know Mukuro was murdered, or about her past with Seiichi. She never told me or Kurama that."

"She told me. I saw her ghost and listened to her. I even allowed her to enter my body for a brief moment."

"You do have spiritual powers. Most humans aren't able to act as mediums. She knew you wanted to solve it so that's why she appeared to you."

Leela's body starts to relax. She stretches out and tries to close her eye. She sees the monster again and quickly opens her eye.

"Would you like me to stay in here tonight? I was scared I was going to lose you. I love you too much."

Leela smiles and closes her eye. Hiei removes his headband and lies next to her, stroking her face gently with his fingers. She starts to shiver and he pulls the covers over her naked body, trying to keep her warm.


	12. Chapter 12

Leela listens to her wristband tell her it's 0630. She stretches and opens her eye. She finds herself alone in the bed and thinks she was in an intense dream. Suddenly, the sweet smell of sticky buns drifts past her nose. She sits up in the bed, trying to cover her naked flesh with the covers. "Where's my…?"

"You're stuff's in the wash."

"You have a machine here? But you didn't have to do that. I was going to…"

"No need to worry. You had enough to deal with last night. It was the least I could do."

"What time do we have to be at the funeral?"

"It's at noon. That's when the sky is open and the heavens can witness it. We've got plenty of time to prepare. Botan's coming by and help you with your kimono. She knows you're still new at wearing one."

"Knock, knock," Leela hears a masculine voice call from outside the cave. She dashes out of bed to the closet and pulls out jeans and a shirt and slices both on quickly. She runs into the bathroom to find her scrunchy on the sink. She combs through her hair, creating a tail.

"Yes," she hollers, walking down the hall. "Oh, Yusuke, Kurama, it's you. You guys are early. The service doesn't start until noon."

"We know, but you left last night asleep. I didn't even get a chance to talk to you," replies Yusuke.

Leela spots a soft couch in the room. "I think I heard Hiei in his bathroom, but please make yourselves at home." All three sit straight up on the couch. "What's on your mind, fellas?"

"First I want to say, wow. You were super last night," remarks Yusuke, "Kurama told me how you fought that one demon in the lab and the other in the restroom. Those were high-level demons, Leela. You've got great skills. I like how you handled that youngest one, Ringo."

"But those things were super scary. My mind was telling me to run away. I was scared I was going to die. I feel like I'm going to have nightmares for weeks from this. Those last three were far worse than any alien I ever fought."

"I understand," replies Yusuke, "believe me I wanted to run from Seiichi and Ritsuko at first, especially when they transformed. But then that would put you in danger so I held my ground."

"Leela, I want to ask you something and want you to think it over. What would you say if I asked you to join our little group of fighters? I believe earlier last night at the wake, Hiei asked if you wanted Koenma to tap into your spirit energy. I know from watching you fight, you have some. He wouldn't hurt you or kill you. He'd just put you in deep sleep and it wouldn't take you very long," recommends Kurama.

"I watched you talk to Mukuro's spirit and allow her to enter your body. Most humans don't willingly open themselves up like a medium. Genkai's the only other person I know who does that. It takes someone with tremendous spirit powers to become a medium and still remain conscious of his or her own soul."

"You really think I'm like you? I'm just a mutant though. I have no super powers like you, except with Miracle Cream. But unless Koenma has a whole case, then I'm not that powerful."

"Leela, don't sell yourself short," replies Yusuke, "You're a smart, brave girl. You're a strong fighter that doesn't allow herself to be injured so easily. It looked as though you were able to predict Ringo's moves and counter them your own."

"Back in the lab, you were able to dodge out of that demon's way and were resourceful enough to find something to distract him. Gouging him in the eye was a smart move. It allowed you enough time to find your weapon and kill him. And in the bathroom, when you called for help, you asked for something to make a camouflaged demon visible to you. Someone else would have just screamed for help."

"We're you testing me? Was all that just a set up?"

"The demons were real and if we hadn't left Demon World to hunt them, I don't want to think about the number of fatalities. Just the very thought makes my stomach turn," replies Yusuke with a grimace on his face. He shakes his head, trying to fight nausea.

"Are you okay?" worries Leela.

"I'll be fine. I'm just sick at the idea."

"But we prevented it. Nobody, except the demons, died last night."

"Hey, what are you guys here for?" Hiei asks walking into the room.

"We've just come to ask Leela here to be a fighter. What else though, Kurama? What was the message you and Shizuru wanted to ask?"

"Oh right, tonight after the funeral, we've decided to treat you and Leela to a dip in the hot springs. There's a spa that just opened around Christmas. My family goes there for special occasions. Since this was Miss Leela's first demon hunt, and it was very successful, you're invited to come. Have you ever been to a hot spring, Leela?"

"I was on a planet once where my crew took the Professor to make him young again in searing hot tar. But no, I've not actually been in a hot spring."

"You'll love it. Once you hit the water, you'll never want to leave."

The buzzer dings on the stove. Leela stands up and walks towards the oven. She picks up a pair of oven mitts and opens the oven door. She quickly removes the hot tray of sticky buns. "Will you fellas stay and have breakfast here?"

"Naw, that's okay. I had a big breakfast earlier at home," grumbles Yusuke.

"Same here. Shizuru served a nice stack of pancakes. I feel like a Sumo wrestler." Both men stand up and make their way to the entrance. "Botan will by later. See you at the funeral." Leela watches as the two zip down from the cave and take off to the border.

"They could have at least stay for tea," she sighs.

"Yeah but then Kurama would have to make a pit stop. He's got a weakness for tea, but it cleanses his body quickly and makes him have to go."

"Fry's the same way with Slurm. He drank five cans before we came to this planet of robots. Then after only 30 minutes of walking around, he had to pee big time."

After breakfast, Leela walks to the guestroom to see her clothes and underwear on the bed. Immediately she undresses and redresses. She finds her wristband on the nightstand and snaps it around her arm. She strolls back into the hallway. She walks towards the main room and sees Hiei crying.

"What's the matter?" Leela rushes to his side.

"I'm fine," he closes his eyes and holds his palms out, "since I'm part ice apparition…there." He drops a tear from one of his eyes and lets it crystallize in his hand. "This is a Heraseki Stone. Ice apparitions, like my sister, make these in their tears. Since I too was born from them, I had that power. Here," he says, taking her hand. "It's just a little gift from me." He takes a gold necklace from his pocket and fuses it with the jewel. "Close your eye." She complies and he places the necklace around her neck.

"Oh my, it's beautiful. I love the jewel. Thank you. I'll wear it to the funeral." She looks at the jewel and follows its shimmer into his eyes. She draws closer to him and caresses his lips with hers. As she starts to pull away, she finds it hard to resist kissing again. This time she kisses him and finds it even harder to pull away.

He also finds it difficult to resist her and starts caressing her neck.

"Is anyone here but us?" she asks.

"Nope just…" His voice fades into the moment. He reaches with his hands around her back to unhinge her bra. She kisses his neck, while letting him run his hands under her shirt and feel her breasts. The two stretch on the couch out with her on top of him. Just as he is about to remove her shirt, someone knocks on the side of the cave. Immediately the two scramble and she refastens her bra.

"Oh uh… Botan, it's uh…good to see you," Leela fakes a laugh.

"Oh sorry…I'll come back later. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Hiei strolls back to his room and the two women sit on the couch. "Did you uh…he just gave me this jewel and put it around my neck. He was just making sure the fastener was working," Leela obviously lies, with sweat dripping from her face.

"It's okay Leela," laughs Botan, "You were about to do it. I didn't mean to look, but I couldn't resist. It's almost 11:00, and you need to get ready."

"Oh shit," Leela quickly looks at her wristband, "I almost let the time slip by."

"I wouldn't have stopped you, except there's a funeral in an hour." The two women stride back to the guestroom. "You were almost ready with your shirt off." Leela removes her shirt and slides the pants off.

"We almost did it. If you didn't show up…"

"You would have gone all the way. If you want, you can do it tonight at the hot springs. They've got springs and rooms at the inn for couples only. Nothing beats hot spring sex."

"You do that, too?"

"Don't tell anyone, but when we get time off, Koenma and I enjoy that."

"No way! You're an item, too?" Leela giggles, as she wraps the white layer of the kimono around herself.

"Yeah. We've made love on occasion. Hey, you spend 700 years with a guy, and even you feel the temptation for sex too much to bear."

After she is dressed in her black kimono and, Leela saunters towards the entrance. She sees Hiei dressed in his black coat. He whistles at her. "Wow, you look super hot. Super hot."

"Save your thoughts for tonight," Leela replies to him in an alluring voice.

"Mm…why's that?" he smiles, still enticed from earlier.

"How about you figure it out?"

"That's enough," laughs Botan, "Come on you two. The funeral is about to start. You've got all night for your fun."

"Aw, do we have to, Mom?" jokes Leela.

"Yes, we have to," sneers Botan.

Leela whines and heads to the mouth of the cave. "Damn, it's just so far down. Got no choice but one." Botan produces her oar.

"No excuses, Young Lady! You ride with me." Leela climbs on the oar and the two girls ride it to outside of Mukuro City.

Centered in site of the tower is a pyre built of a pile of kindle wood and leaves. In the center, Mukuro's body lies adorned in a fine white kimono. Leela sees the shrine she saw the night before in front of her head. On both sides of the shrine, four torches are lit on fire. Walking around the body, Leela watches Genkai chant a prayer in Japanese. She is adorned in white robe draped along the length of her body. A large crowd gathers around the body. Four men stand on either side of the body. All four are also clad in a white robe and with his head shaved bald. They too chant in monotone to Buddha in Japanese.

Leela spots Yusuke in the crowd. "Is this what a funeral looks like?" she whispers.

"Yeah, and what's going on here is they're praying to Buddha. Right now, Genkai is asking Buddha to accept Mukuro's soul in the afterlife."

"Who are those men?"

"They are four of the temple monks from the surrounding area. Each will take one of those torches from the shrine and set the pyre on fire. This will start the process of returning Mukuro's body to ashes and return it to the soil from which it came. This prevents her body to be used by the wicked and allows her soul to remain free."

Genkai stands between the shrine and the pyre, commanding all voices to cease. "Upon this day, we will say goodbye to our dear friend, Mukuro. I pray to you, Oh Great Buddha, who watches over us all, that you may accept Lady Mukuro into your gracious arms.

'I'll miss you, Mukuro. I remember fighting against you in the first Demon Tournament. We fought as equals. That's the moment I first loved you. You were precious to me. You were the only person who understood me because you had a lonely life like mine. This year we were to marry and raise Hiro together. I wanted you in my life for good. Why didn't I prevent those sons of bitches stealing you away from me?' Hiei closes his eyes and shields his face from the crowd with his hand. He quickly drops to his knees with tears streaming from his eyes and seeping past his hand. Leela notices him and kneels to him. "Why did you have to die? I loved you…" Leela holds him close to her shoulder. She feels his tears soak the top of her kimono and here him mourn and gasp tearful sighs.

"It's okay. She's in a better place. I know it hurts," Leela whispers, trying to sooth his breaking heart. Leela listens to Genkai finish her prayers in Japanese.

Leela turns her head towards the pyre. She watches the four monks walk simultaneously towards the shrine, while chanting in Japanese. Each lifts a flaming torch into his hands and saunters in a mirrored pace. Each monk stands before Mukuro on either side of her body and presents the torches. "Lady Mukuro, may your body return to the soil from whence it came. May your soul no longer be changed to your old body so you can remain free in the afterlife. We will return it to ashes so no wicked beings can use it for evil." With that the monks touch the kindle wood a flame. The flames surround her body, slowly consuming it.

Upon seeing his beloved's body set on fire, Hiei buries his face deep into Leela's shoulder, sobbing even harder than before. Yusuke peers over at his friend and kneels beside him.

"I've never seen him like this before. In all my years of knowing him, I've not even so much seen him cry. He must have really loved her."

"Yeah, she's telling me that right now."

"You can see her?" asks Yusuke.

"Yes, she's in front of me. In fact, she wishes to say something. Mukuro, please use my body."

Mukuro's spirit enters Leela's body and flies to the center of the circle. She engulfs Leela's appearance, as she stands above her burning body.

"Listen all. I feel honored by this day and the love you express to me. In my whole life, I never knew what love was. That was until the first Demon Tournament when I fought Master Hiei. Hiei, please step forward. I know the pain I caused you by my death. But know this, I never did abandon you. Whether my body suffered illness due to natural means or by malice matters not. I gave you my heart to cherish. That and a gift created by us out of love. The son we made, from the love we shared. Allow him to be the constant reminder to you. Also know I'm not leaving you alone. Take care of this woman. She proves to love you even more than I could. Turonga Leela is the woman whom you've taken into your home and love with all your heart. Allow her to fill the void from my passing. She's a powerful woman; her spirit energy is undoubtedly strong. Allow her to stand in my place and fight against evil beside you. With that in mind, I shall leave here now. Please don't cry for me, Hiei. I know it will hurt to know I'm gone, but I know your spirit is strong and the pain will subside. I've got a new life already. I'm in the body of a tigress cub. She's about to wake up, so I must leave. I'll return this girl to you now." She floats Leela back to him. Mukuro frees herself from Leela, and vanishes. She whispers a thank you to Leela in her disappearance.

The crowd whispers amongst itself. Genkai finishes the funeral with one last prayer then, strides towards Leela, who kneels wearily on the ground. "That was impressive, Young Lady. I see you've got spiritual powers yourself to willingly act as a medium. You need to be careful, though, and not let an evil spirit possess you." Leela smiles with a worn expression.

From the crowd, she sees Koenma walk towards her and kneel to the ground next to her. "I was watching you on my giant monitor last night. I saw you fight against Seiichi and his group. Those were powerful demons; their power levels were reading strong. But then I saw your power level. It's off the charts. You must release that power before it releases itself and tears you to shreds. Come to Spirit World tomorrow morning and I will help you channel your energy."

"Thanks, sir. I'll take you upon your off…" Leela closes her eye and passes out. Hiei catches her body before it hits the ground.

"Mukuro's possession of her body must have taken its toll on her. That's to be expected, even Master Genkai faints from a possession. Hiei take her to the tower at once," requests Koenma.

"But why the tower, Koenma?" asks Botan.

"It was Mukuro's request. Before she left for that new body, she passed me by. She wants you and Leela, Hiei, to inherit her tower and live there. She wants all her possessions and wealth to belong to you. She no longer has need of them and wants the one who loved her and remained faithful to her to have them. That would be you, Hiei. Both you and Leela are most deserving of them."

A short time later at the tower's highest room, Leela opens her eye and finds herself in the bed she saw Mukuro sleeping. She sees Hiei in a chair next to her. "Hey, welcome back to the world."

"Yeah, how long have I been asleep?"

"Just a few hours."

"Is this her bed?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. Her servants cleaned it for you and lined it with fresh sheets."

"Yeah, but why are we here?"

"We live here now. She gave this building and her possessions to us."

"For real? What did she own, besides this bed and that chair?"

"You're a wealthy woman, Leela. She told Koenma since she has a new body, she has no need for all this stuff. She told him that we could own it."

Leela looks at her wristband and tries to sit up. She swerves her legs over the side of the bed. She stumbles as she stands to her feet. "Don't get up, Leela, you're still weak."

"Yeah, but I have to go."

"If you're worried about the hot spring party, it's not for a few hours yet. Please get back in bed."

"No, I mean I have to go. I don't know how much longer I can hold it."

"Oh, if you have to pee there's a small pocket in this room with a pit. Mukuro commissioned to have one installed in here when she was pregnant. No need to flush since it leads directly out the back and to the ground."

Leela sees the pocket to her right and dashes off to it. She immediately sees a bench with the pit he described. Quickly she unwraps her kimono and drops it to the floor in haste. She sits over the pit, barely in time for her body to start deflating itself like an overfilled water balloon. 'Thank goodness.' After a brief moment, her body feels empty and she slowly stands up. She wraps herself back up and walks back into the room. "Ah that feels better."

"You want to feel real good," he remarks, watching her stroll from the doorway, "we can head over to the hot springs. It's getting dark out and we can get over there early. We've got further to travel."

"How do you dress for one of these?"

"Most people dress in a simple kimono. You can wear that white under layer if you want. Bring underwear, but only for the trip over. Just the underpants are fine for you. That's the only other thing the girls will wear." Leela nods and removes her bra. She wraps just the white kimono around herself.

"I'm ready for some fun," chimes Leela, tying her sash around her waist.

He grabs her by the hand and quickly leads her all the way to the bottom floor. He holds her around the waist and leaps into the air, racing at top speed through the trees and past the border. They head to northwest of Tokyo and dash into a wooded area. Immediately she sees natural pools steaming through the treetops and a long L-shape building aligning the pools.

"Is this the place? It's huge."

"Yeah and what a surprise, Botan and Koenma are already here."

The two land on the ground outside the springs and immediately Leela reaches under the skirt of her kimono and slides her underwear off. She tucks it underneath a pocket in the sleeve. She heads to the women's side of the springs and sees Botan in the water.

"I see you're here already," smirks Leela.

"Yeah well Koenma was getting restless. He loves hot springs." Botan points to him in the men's side, asleep.

Leela glances over and watches Hiei get in. She jerks her head away, trying to fight her eye.

"What was that?" Botan whispers with a smirk.

"Nothing. I just…Keiko and Shizuru will be here shortly, right? We'll just have balls…I mean fun…right?"

"Yeah, we'll have fun. Relax, Leela. It's okay if you wanted to look."

"Hey, hot thing," Leela entices her guy. She unties her sash and slides her kimono off her back. She drops her kimono to the ground and climbs down into the water slowly, showing him her profile.

Hiei watches her, biting his tongue. "Oh, baby. I want that. So hot, I must have that body of yours."

"Enough with the eye candy shit," Yusuke interrupts, "You're giving him a boner."

"Oh thanks a lot! Who asked you to butt in?" gripes Hiei.

"There are private pools for couples for that crap. Here is where you just relax."

"Where's Keiko?" Leela asks.

"She's in the restroom with the kids. She wants them to be all peed and pooped out before swimming in the springs. The Minaminos are here too and they're cleaning themselves out first."

Leela sleeks through the water and rests her head against the rocks, which separate the two pools. She sinks her body underneath the water, and then bobs back to the surface for air. She glides all the way back in and swims like a seal underneath the water. She glides back to the surface and bobs again for air. "This is heaven," she sighs, shaking her head. She sees Keiko stroll out with a robe around her and sees Megumi in the water. Yoshi looks cautiously at the water and clings to his mother's legs.

"It's okay, Yoshi," assures Leela, patting the water. She looks at the boy's water wings. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"He's scared of water," laughs Keiko, "Hey, Megs, could you help me get him in?"

"Sure Mom," complies Megumi, exiting the water. She picks up her little brother and carries him gently in. Yoshi starts to scream and cry.

"Hey, young man, there's nothing to be afraid of," coaxes Leela. She splashes water up and showers it on him. He laughs at her and kicks the water.

"Oh geez, Mom, he's peeing in the water again."

Keiko rolls her eyes, "Yeah I know. Sorry, Megs. You too, Leela. He's doing that no matter where. He's not fully trained yet and he was refusing to go in the restroom."

"No problem, he's still a young guy. Doesn't know any better. How old is he, two?"

"He'll be three in June. He does that at Grandma Atsuko's and at my parents'. I'm guessing Yusuke's teaching him that."

"I heard that, Missy."

Leela laughs and dives under the water again. She swims stealthfully through and sees Botan's legs. Out of fun, she yanks Botan down. She bobs back out and shakes her hair. Leela returns to the surface and gives her an evil smirk.

"I get you, you little…" she swims after Leela and provokes a chase.

"That's the most exercise you've ever gotten," laughs Koenma, watching the two girls.

"Shut up," Botan retorts, "I came here to relax."

"You're always relaxing. Leela obviously wants to play."

"Well the hot tub at work isn't this big or this deep," replies Leela, "Plus it's chlorinated."

"The springs here are natural. The staff here keep them chemical free," informs Shizuru, walking into the area.

"Hi guys," chimes Leela. She sees Kurama already on the men's side. "Is he asleep already?"

"After the funeral, he had an emergency. One of his patients was going into labor. Took him several hours to deliver the babies."

"Babies?"

"The woman had twins, both girls."

"Amazing how life is like that. After he watches one person burn to ashes and leave this world, he brings two more into it," comments Leela.

"Yeah, that's what happened at Yomi's memorial. In the middle the service, I went into labor and had Sakura in Yomi's tomb. His ghost even acted as my coach."

"Say, Koenma. When do you want me in Spirit World?"

He stretches and starts to close his eyes. "I'll wake you at 7:00. Since you're staying at the inn tonight, you'll be easy enough to find. Botan will fly you…" He yawns and drifts back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Leela slips under the water and swims to the far end of the hot spring. She sees a gap under the water, leading into a separate pool. She swims past the gap and into the other spring. She notices bonsai trees surrounding the pool, like a block for on-lookers. She turns her head, glancing at her surroundings. She rests her head and gazes up at the stars through the steam from the pool.

"Would you like company?" a familiar masculine voice murmurs to her.

She looks to see Hiei wrapped in a black robe with her kimono in one arm and a bottle of sake in his other hands. "It's said a bath in the hot springs isn't quite right if you aren't a little tipsy."

"Who says that?" she smiles.

"I did. I said it just now."

She closes her eye. "Come on in."

"How old are you? We're by ourselves now. No parents. My friends aren't here as fucking chaperones. I saw you look Leela. Takes more than that to embarrass me."

"I shouldn't act so shy but…when it comes to the man I love, that's just how I am. I respect you, Hiei. Maybe too much."

He sets the stuff in his arms down and dives into the spring, head first. He swims next to her. "So, do you want to?" he asks in a silky voice.

"I was waiting for it," she replies with the same silky tone. He glides his body over hers and kisses her lips. She grasps the hair on the back of his head. She kisses him on the neck, as she tries to remove his headband. "I want…I want you to…ah. Yes. Oh, yeah. Ah." She wraps her legs around his back, trying to keep him from floating away. He secures himself by grabbing the turf behind her head. She reaches her hands around his back, holding onto the back of his shoulders. Finally he releases from her and swims to the side.

Leela swims towards the sake and retrieves it from the bank. Just then she meets a pair of child-sized eyes staring at her. "S-Sakura? Uh…what are you?"

"Sakura Minamino, come here now!" shouts Shizuru.

"But, Mommy they were…"

"Young Lady, look at the sign. What does it say? It says "Grown-ups Only". Now get over here, now!"

Leela quickly swims over to Hiei with the sake, still looking over her shoulder. "I wonder how much she saw."

"Don't worry. She's four. Her kind watches Sesame Street and cartoons."

"But that's just creepy. You try so hard to censor stuff for kids. So much so you can't have any adult fun." Leela drinks some sake from the bottle then passes it to him.

"I had little glass saucers there too."

"Sorry, I was about to grab them when I saw her." She swims back to the bank and reaches for the saucers.

"That was fun making love."

"It was, but I'm not sure. I don't want to get you pregnant. We've just met."

"I'm taking birth control. I took a pill earlier before the funeral." Leela pours a small amount of sake into a saucer. "These bottles aren't very big. You can hardly get drunk with this size."

"The hotel offers them for free. You're not going to get drunk. Besides, you've got that meeting with Koenma tomorrow. You need to be sober for what he's going to do for you."

"I hate to pry, but back to the sex thing. How long did it take to make Hiro?"

"She wanted to get pregnant. Mukuro knew Seiichi wanted to silence her once and for all. Her health was starting to fail anyways. It was that way for several years. Then last year, she received an ultimatum from Seiichi that if she didn't allow him and his family to hunt in the human world, he was going to kill her this year. So she offered to bear me a child. She thought if she wasn't going to be with me for long, at least our child will have a chance." Hiei pours himself some sake then stares at the dish. He gulps the sake and dips the saucer into the water. "If only I had killed him in time. If only I got to him when Hiro was born. I had the chance. Why didn't I take it and save her? She'd still have a chance and would still be alive. But, I f…f…failed her." He drops the bottle and saucer into the water. Tears dribble down his face.

Leela reaches her arm around his back and places her hand on his shoulder. She strokes his face with the back of her other hand. "These things just happen. Life's harsh like that. I know what it's like to lose someone you love. Fry's death was still unreal to me, even after his funeral."

"But that was a dream."

"You know how real dreams can get. They often lead you to believe they're real. His death was real enough to me, even if it was a dream."

"Hey," she asks, "Do you want to do it again? It might take your mind off of her passing. I want to see you relaxed, not burdened with sadness. I'll bet Mukuro would want the same thing. Why else do you think she gave the tower to us?"

"Sure. Hold on. Ah…"

"What the…you and Yoshi," Leela laughs.

"Well, he had the right idea. Doesn't hurt anything. This water filters itself out. You try it."

"No I shouldn't. I don't want to harm the water."

"You won't. We're out in nature. Animals do it all the time. Just let the water sooth your body. Relax and let yourself go."

"But what if someone from the hotel catches me, or one of our friends."

"They don't care. If the hotel didn't care we had sex in the hot spring, why should they care if we pee in it?"

"But I shouldn't…mm. Oh, yeah. That feels good. Total relaxation."

"That's a once in a lifetime pleasure. So are you ready to do it again?"

"Yeah but this time I want to be on top."

"Let's swim to this top corner here. There's a rock I can sit on. Besides I don't want to do it were we just peed. That's gross."

She follows him and lays herself over him. "Mm…the second time…oh yeah." Leela sees two shadows sleek by. She glances over to see Shizuru and Kurama stepping quietly by. She turns her attention back to Hiei and kisses his neck.

"Oof, my back." He shrugs his shoulders.

"What's the matter, does it itch?" Leela scratches her fingernails across his back.

"Ah yeah. Oh, you've got magic fingers." 

"Maybe we've been in this water too long. You think we should find our room at the inn and make love there?"

"We could do that. You get out first and I'll follow you."

Leela swims over to the bank with their clothes and slides out of the water. "This is what I hate about getting out. You feel like you weigh a ton," she sighs as she dries herself off with a towel. She picks up her kimono and wraps it around her body. She sits on the bank with her feet in the water and offers her hand to him. She closes her eye and hands him the towel. He ties the towel around his waist and picks up the robe.

"Aren't you leaving the sake bottle and dishes behind?"

"There's a morning crew that cleans the hot springs. They are paid to fish out the crap that's left in and around the pools. Besides these springs are close to nature and the sake bottles are disposable and become water toys. Japanese Macaques come down from the mountains and through this area. They love stealing the bottles and play with them."

The two saunter towards the building. Leela listens to a crashing sound through the trees. "You hear that," she whispers.

Hiei points to the spring they were just in. They watch a white hairy monkey sneak towards the back of the spring. "You see him. He's the scout. His troop must be close by. He's just making sure the coast is clear."

"Is he that afraid of people?"

"No, but they see us like a rival gang. They want the pool to themselves."

Leela spots two more monkeys approach the water. "Looks like a mama and her baby." She watches the female monkey carry her baby in her arm and scoop water with her other hand. She sips the water and starts screeching.

"She's calling her family. That pair must feel it's safe to enter the water."

Leela watches the male pace around the grounds on all fours, urinating in several spots. "What's he doing?"

"Just marking his territory. It sends a signal that this pond now belongs to his troop, and for rival gangs to stay away."

"Should we leave, too?"

"What and miss this?" Hiei laughs under his breath, "This is quite entertaining to watch. I want to see what they're up to." The two sit on the ground and watch as the troop wanders in, a few monkeys at a time. One of the monkeys finds the sake bottle and grabs it with his hands. Leela tries hard not to laugh, watching him draw water into the bottle and try to drink out of it. She sees another sit in the shallows next to him, looking at the bottle with a curious expression. She knocks the bottle out of his hand, and he screeches at her and chases her around the spring. He returns to the bottle and tries to drink from it again. She races back to him, and he charges into the shrubs, carrying the neck of the bottle in his teeth. She hears a loud angry screech in the bush and sees a different monkey carry the bottle in one arm and racing with his other arm and legs. The monkey that had the bottle last chases after him, into the water.

After awhile, Hiei tries to fight his eyes to stay open. Leela notices him start close his eyes. She picks him up in her arms and carries him into the hotel. Quickly she finds their room and lays him on the mattress on the floor with his head on a soft foam pillow. She pulls the covers over him. 'We'll make love again. You've had a long day and that funeral much have worn you out.' She kisses him on the forehead, and then crawls into bed beside him. She strokes his face with her hand and kisses his cheek. Finally, Leela lays her head on the pillow and closes her eye.

Softly she hears footsteps approaching her. She reluctantly opens her eye and sees Shizuru's shadowy stand in the doorway. "Hey, what time is it?" Leela asks in a sleepy voice.

"It's only 9:00. Sorry to wake you," Shizuru whispers.

"Naw, you're fine. Hiei was about to conk out, so I carried him to bed. He's had a long day." Leela stretches then rises to her feet on the mattress. She gingerly follows Shizuru out of the room, trying not to disturb her sleeping lover.

The two girls saunter out of the room to the main gathering area at the inn. "Hey Shizuru, I'm sorry for earlier."

"For what?"

"Your daughter. She didn't see anything did she?"

"Psst, don't worry about Sakura. I'm not mad at you. What you do in those pools is up to you. They're for couples only. The trees are thick in that area for the purpose of privacy. I gave her a spanking for invading your space." Shizuru sighs and sits on a mattress in the main hall. Leela sits beside her. In front of them, a waitress provides them a plate of dumplings and sushi. She bows to them and Shizuru and Leela bow back. "Sakura's is four years old and she loves to tattle. She tattles on her brother, no matter what he does. She tattles on Megumi and Yoshi. And she tries to find grownups to tattle on. Majority of the time, Kurama and I don't pay attention to her mouth. We're trying to teach her that nobody cares to listen to tattlers."

"Reminds me at that age," laughs Leela, "Now I just boss people around. It's part of my job as a spaceship captain."

"So," Shizuru gives Leela a poke, as Leela picks up a stick of dumplings, "How did you like that?"

"You saw us!"

"No, but we do it in the hot spring all the time. There's nothing that tops having sex in a spring."

"Hiei also told me that sex isn't the only fun thing to do."

"Did you try it? He's right. It doesn't harm anything since it's part of nature too. We do that on purpose. What's really fun is to load up on green tea and then skinny dip. One of the properties of tea is to cleanse your body, internally. It rids your body of impurities and flushes them out. With the warmth of water soothing your body and you breathing in the steam in, you're only choice is to relax and just let it come out."

"You didn't take long out there. Were there monkeys in your area?"

Shizuru laughs, "Yes, they wanted to pool to themselves. One of the males came by and pitched a fit at us. He must have been the king of his group."

"What did the monkey do?" chuckles Leela.

"Well, His Highness wanted to pick a fight. He hissed and screeched at Kurama and showed his teeth. He was saying 'Get out of my pool, you big oaf.'" Leela tries hard not to laugh with her mouth full of dumplings. Leela starts to choke and grabs a small bowl of sake in front of her. She sips and clears her throat. Leela sniffles and laughs. "He was joined by two more males. It was such a funny sight. One ran in and started splashing us. Another got even more daring and started a staring contest with my husband. Then the monkey cackled and grabbed the sake bottle. Finally we got out and let the monkeys have the hot spring."

"Yeah," Kurama replies, lying half asleep on his side, while munching on a piece of sushi. Leela sees him across from herself and Shizuru. "Those monkeys were a riot. That first one reminded me of Yusuke. He looked like a tough guy, too. He certainly had the balls to challenge me."

"You lose to a monkey? I'd like to see that," laughs Leela.

"It's happened before. I've lost to Yusuke in a sparring match," Kurama laughs, plopping another piece of sushi into his mouth.

"I heard that," warns a voice behind him. Leela chortles until tears flow from her eye.

"That's good. Yusuke the monkey," Leela looks over at Shizuru's watch. "It's 10:00 already? I'm going back to bed. Koenma's going to wake me at 7:00 and I need to be up and alert." Leela staggers to her feet and strolls back to the bed, where she left her sleeping prince. She sees his eyes twitch, as though lost in a dream. She unties her sash and slides her kimono off, folding it and laying it on the floor bedside the mattress. She sits on the bed then stretches legs on the soft mattress. Leela pulls the cover over her body rests her head on the large pillow shared by her prince.


	14. Chapter 14

"Psst, Leela. It's time to rise," a masculine voice whispers in her ear.

"Oh, Fry, it's you. What are you doing here?" she smiles in her sleep.

"Who's Fry? This is Koenma. Come on."

Leela reluctantly opens her eye and sees Koenma kneeling beside her, fully dressed. She stretches her arms. She reaches for her kimono and wraps it around her shoulders. She looks over and sees her prince missing. "Where's…"

"He's just outside strolling the grounds. He said he wants to come with you and witness your spirit energy released."

Koenma hands her a cup of tea. "Is this to energize me?"

"Partly, but mostly to cleanse your insides. You need to have any impurities washed out before hand. Also the procedure is a long process, so if you have to go, do it now. The room we're going to be in is away from any humanized bathrooms and ogre rooms are too gross."

Leela drinks the tea while sitting in bed. She sees him walking off. "Where are you going?"

"Just to wake Botan. She's flying you up there."

Leela walks towards the exit of the inn and checks to see anyone outside. Seizing the moment, she hurries towards the bushes behind the hot springs. She walks until she sees the tallest, thickest bush. She checks behind the bush to find nobody there, then hastily dashes behind it herself. While her eye searches for onlookers, she hikes up the back of her kimono and sits herself on the ground, with her knees arched and hidden under the skirt.

As she starts to pee, she hears the sound of a man's footsteps approaching her from behind. She holds her position, but remains silent, hoping for the man to pass her by. The footsteps stop in front of the bush.

"Who's there?" she demands, trying to find a stick or a branch with her hands that might have fallen from the Japanese maple standing next to her.

Surprised by her voice, the man pushes the branches of the bush to see her sitting there. At just that moment, Leela locks her eye with his.

"Oh…sorry, didn't know you were…"

"Yeah, uh…whew, it's only you, Kurama. I was afraid it was a peeper."

"I'll go somewhere else."

"Naw, you go ahead and…well this bush is so thick and so huge, I didn't see anything. I had to go. Koenma gave me some green tea only a short time ago. That stuff works fast."

"I like to call it drinkable Drano. Speaking of Koenma, I heard you took him up on his offer."

"He practically required me to go up to Spirit World. Botan's taking me there right away. I'm almost done here. So, what's he going to do to me? Open channels for spirit channels for spirit energy. He made it sound like some sort of surgery thing."

"I'm not sure, but my guess is he'll just open your body up spiritually. He did the same thing with Yusuke."

"So why aren't you at work? I thought you'd be gone by now."

"I don't work on Sundays. Finally done."

"Yeah, I've stopped too. So what have you got planned?"

"Church to start with. My family and I have church in two hours."

"You've got churches here too? But I thought you were all Buddhists."

"There are three major religions here. I used to be Buddhist myself, but I converted when I was going steady with Shizuru. The Kuwabaras are one of the Catholic families here. Her brother's Buddhist, but she remained with Christianity and believes in Jesus. Japan's also home to many Americans, and the majority of them are also Christian. There are a great deal of American students that attend our schools and Tokyo U. One of my professors is from Missouri, Dr. Benjamin Ward."

Leela stands up and removes her underwear from the sleeve of her kimono. Discreetly, she slides the pair over her waist. "You girls are so quiet. I almost envy you."

"Really?"

"If you didn't speak up, I wouldn't have known you were back there." Leela walks back to the front of the bush.

Leela spots Botan waiting outside the inn, dressed in her pink kimono.

"Hope you weren't waiting too long. That tea went right through me."

"Not to worry. I had to fly earlier anyways. This old woman Koenma was waiting for died this morning. I was busy escorting her. So are you ready?"

Leela nods and hops on Botan's oar. "Hiei's already up there. He couldn't wait at all. You'll need him there anyways to provide the life force energy."

"What's that?"

"Nothing bad at all. When your spiritual channels are fully open, your whole body will glow golden yellow. All he'll do is kiss you for you to wake up."

"Sort of like Sleeping Beauty."

"Yeah except it won't take 100 years, just 12 hours."

"Is that why he gave me that tea?"

"He wanted you to flush out every bit of impurity in your body. That's why it seemed like forever. Also, he wanted your bladder cleaned out. Better to pee in the woods than in the middle of an energy surge with your body. The ogres will have enough to look at."

The girls fly into a strange world with a bright yellow field below them and a white river cutting through the ground. Leela sees a huge fortress with giant doors at the entrance. "What is this place? It's huge."

"This is Spirit World."

"I was expecting a theme park, like Disney World. But this…wow."

The girls land in front of the gate and Leela suddenly feels like a mouse standing in front of the doors.

"I've got Leela here. Please open up," announces Botan. The doors open by themselves and Leela swivels her head, trying to take in the giant hallway.

"This sort of reminds me of Mukuro's tower halls, but how big is this place? I've never seen anything this huge in my life."

"The ceiling height of the hallway is two miles tall. But once you get inside, you'll see it's at least a thousand times huger." Leela sees a massive area with large muscular men with a horn in the middle their foreheads. "Who are they?"

"These are the ogres Koenma told you about. They work out here. They do the filing, paperwork, and keeping client records up-to-date." Botan escorts Leela to another set of doors. "This is Koenma's office."

"This looks like a business bureau. One of my co-workers, Hermes is an accountant. He's in charge the bookkeeping and money management."

"Yeah, that's what this is, sort of." Botan knocks on the door and Koenma ushers the women in. Leela sees a young boy at huge desk in front of her.

"Oh hey, are you Koenma's little brother?"

"No, it's me. This is my look up here."

"But, I saw you down on Earth as a grown man."

The kid changes his size. "Is that better?" he smiles, "Sorry if I confused you. That's my normal look up here. You're just used to my Human World appearance."

"Koenma sir," barges in a large guy with blue skin, "you need to stamp this message now. Oh, who are you, lady?"

"You're being rude as usual, George. Leela's up here at my request."

"But where's her paperwork? I don't see her listed on here. Was her death that unscheduled?"

"She's not dead, you idiot. Leela, don't pay attention to him. Ogres are handy for office work but have no brains for anything else. George, leave my office now."

"But, sir?"

"You heard the man, now leave before I hurt you!" Leela retorts, looking at George in the face.

"Yes ma'am, sorry." George smiles sheepishly and backs away quickly and closes the door behind him.

"You're good, Leela. Takes me forever to get him out of here. I'm looking to hire an assistant manager. You can have the job if you want."

"I'll think about it," she laughs, "but seriously, you didn't bring up here just to chat."

"Right. Follow me." Koenma leads her further into a chamber past the doors in his office. She looks at the huge painting of a bearded man. "Who's that? He looks like a god."

"He is. That's my father. He's away for now, but he told me I use this room to channel your energy." Koenma leads her to the center of the room to a long white upholstered table. She sees small steps on the other side of the table from her.

"It's finally time," replies a familiar masculine voice. She sees Hiei walk towards her.

"Where did you come in? I didn't see you."

"Please, Leela. Have a seat on the table," commands Koenma, "You'll have a chance to talk in spirit form."

"You're going to kill me?" Leela shrieks.

"You won't die," explains Koenma, "All you'll do is become unconscious. You'll leap out of you're body, but it's vitality will still be present. You'll still be alive."

Leela looks at Koenma with uncertainty as she hoists herself onto the table. "Leela, why would I kill you if I wanted to help you channel and harness spirit energy? When I performed this for Yusuke, he was dead from the start. It's not the same case with you." Koenma stands on the steps behind her.

Leela starts to undo her sash and slides her kimono off her shoulders, exposing her breasts. "Why are you undressing? You're not in a doctor's office. If you get naked, you'll walk around like that and the ogres will be looking at you instead of working. You're fine as you are now. Just lay back on the table." She quickly slips the top back on and lies on the table, as requested.

"Just close your eye and relax your body. Soon you'll go into a really deep sleep." Leela complies and Koenma pulls out his pacifier and places it in the hand over Leela's head. Golden light flashes for an instant from the pacifier and Leela's body jolts and then lays motionless, her heart still beating in her chest. Almost immediately, Leela finds herself awake in the room.

Leela stands up from the table and jumps down. "Wasn't I just asleep?" she asks, trying to orient herself.

Hiei approaches her. "You're still asleep. Look." He shows her the table in the room. She sees her own body still lying motionless. Leela tries to touch her body, but sees her fingers slip through.

"Am I dead?" Leela asks, retrieving her hand from her body. "Is this what death looks like?" Tears form in her eye.

"You're not dead. See, you're chest move. You've still got a pulse and you're breathing. It's just like being in that dream of your friend's death. Only thing with this, it's the real thing."

Leela watches Koenma exert flows of spirit energy directly from his fingers all across her body. Leela watches it rise up off the table about six feet and suspend in the air with an enormous cocoon of golden energy surrounding the body. The energy absorbs quickly into her body. Finally, Leela's body slowly lowers back onto the table and her feet start glowing gold.

Koenma looks at Leela and places the pacifier back in his mouth. "What just happened?"

"That light you saw surrounding your body was your energy. Right now your body is opening a channel for your spirit. It'll be awhile until your whole body glows. Takes almost 24 hours from now for your body to be ready for your spirit wave to align with the energy. Hiei's here to provide the life energy source."

"That's the part I can't wait for," Leela replies eagerly, "But that's 24 hours without a kiss," she sighs as she and Hiei leave the room. Botan catches her attention.

"Hey, while your away from your body, you're spirit does solidify. You can still kiss if you want." Botan leads them to a room with an enchanting garden. Leela feels the grass beneath her.

Leela notices other spirits in the garden too, mostly children. "Botan, can we…you know?"

Botan laughs at her. "You didn't get enough last night, did you? I didn't want to ask such a private question. How was it?"

"It was fun. I want to do it again."

"If you want do it in spirit form, then there are around Heaven's Garden that are good hiding places. The best thing is, no repercussions."

"I can't think of anything else to do," Hiei laughs. You only go to Spirit World once in your life and I'd love to know what your spirit is like."

"I'll come and get you when your body is ready," replies Botan, "You two do what you want." The two hold hands and find a bonsai tree next to a tranquil pond.

"Since there are kids here, we could just be topless." Leela reclines on the grass under the tree. She ushers Hiei to rest beside her. The two lock lips and Hiei slips the top of her kimono off her shoulders, exposing her breasts. He kisses the nape of her neck and follows it down to her chest. She reaches her hands underneath his shirt and slides it over his head.

"So is this what you're spirit tastes like?" Hiei asks.

"I guess. I still can taste you, my prince. You're skin," she kisses his chest, "tastes sweet…mm…like caramel. Your lips…mm like cherry licorice. I…mm…love cherry licorice."

"Your spirit skin, my princess, tastes like fine white chocolate. Your spirit lips…mm…like ripe red wine. I want to taste your human body so bad, but I guess I wait for that main course. Ah who gives a flying fuck about the kids in Spirit World? I want your spirit body now."

"I agree. They're dead; we're not. Just like Botan said, no repercussions."

"There'd be one though. Ever did it with your soul?"

"Not yet. But I'm up for some fun." Leela unties her sash and wraps her kimono over his body.

"Is it…mm…my soul's never been this alive. Oh, prince, you…ah…oh yeah."

"Mm…I want you inside, hot She-devil. I want your soul. Give me your…mm."

"What will you do with my flesh though? I want you to have both."

Hiei whines at her. "Tonight at the tower, I've got your dinner ready. If you spoil your appetite now…mm…with sweets…mm…you won't be…mm…hungry anymore."

"Yeah, I'm getting tired. Besides, I want to do it, with your body and soul together." He arches himself, hoisting his pants up. Leela sits up and stretches her arms. She wraps her kimono around her body and slides her arms through the sleeves. She ties the sash around her waist and remains seated.

"Come sit with me. Botan said she would come to get us when my body is ready. The other reason I wanted to stop is so she wouldn't catch us. There's no clock in here, so I don't know what the time is."

Hiei sits on the grass next to her. "That was fun, what we did just now."

"That was my first time," Hiei comments.

"You're first what? Come on, you did with Mukuro. Where else did Hiro come from?"

"No I mean spirit sex. I've been to Spirit World before, but I've never done it here."

"You're great though. I'll say this much, of all the guys I've ever slept with, you're my favorite. You love me for who I am, not just what I look like."

He looks at her and leans closer into her. "You want to know what you look like to me, princess. You're the hottest thing in Spirit World, Demon World, or in any world you want to rock me in. And you're the only girl I've…mm…that…"

"Just shut up and…mm…we can…" Leela's voice falls silent as she holds Hiei close in her arms and keeps her lips locked on his.

"Uh um," a familiar feminine voice coughs from behind, "Your body is ready, Leela."

"Thanks, Botan. I'm so anxious to be back in my flesh again."

Botan laughs and rolls her eyes. "I know you want more time in Romantic Land. So how was it?"

"It was fun. Spirit sex is awesome, but…"

"I know, lover girl. You want to be put back together." The two girls and Hiei walk back into the huge room of Koenma's father. Leela sees her whole body glowing gold.

Leela notices her spirit start to fade into transparency. Hiei dashes to her body. "Do I just…how do I wake you?"

"What else, my prince? Just kiss me," Leela responds. Hiei places his hands on her shoulders.

"See you when you wake up," he replies and caresses his lips on hers. Softly her spirit glides into her body like a soft feather. Slowly she starts to open her eye. She looks over to see her lover's face. "Welcome back."

"I'm glad to be back. Hiei, are you thinking about Hiro just now?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

Leela looks puzzled at him, "I don't know. Botan, Mr. Senjo will die tomorrow, right?"

"When did I tell you that?"

"Never mind. Koenma is in his office eating at his desk. I'd better get in there before he heads to the john." Leela leaps off the table. "Are you coming with me, Botan?

"I planned on it." Leela still looks at her puzzled. Hiei and the two girls walk out of the room and into the office.

"Koenma, I know you're swamped with work. How did I know that?"

He laughs at her puzzled expression, "That's one of your powers now. You've got clairvoyance. You've got the ability to read minds. I saw you use that when you fought Ringo. It was only slight, but you had the gift. Now your spirit energy is allowed to filter through your brain and throughout your body, that gift has been enhanced. Don't worry, Leela, you'll get used to it. There are other cool things you can do too."

"Hiei, there's a humanized restroom at the end of the hall right of this door. If you don't use it now, you won't even make it to Demon World," informs Leela. Quickly he zips out of the office and down the hall. "Good, he made it. Back in the garden he was trying to hold it."

Leela sees a brunette in her late 40s walk into the room. "Hi, ma'am."

"Hi, um you're not dead, are you?"

"No, why are you?"

"Yes, I just came in to speak to Koenma."

"Okay, but how do I test the 'cool things' you speak of? I want to learn what I can do now."

"Say, would you like to train with Genkai?" asks Koenma, "She's an expert at energy training. How long have you trained in martial arts?"

"I started training when I was six. Graduated the academy at fourteen. After that, I've been training on own ever since. I've just not had time to practice since I came to the 21st century."

"So you've got at least 19 years of experience. That's more than can be said for Yusuke. I'll bet you don't complain too much either. Plus you've got confidence in yourself and don't give up, even if the odds of winning a fight are stacked against you. She likes that in a fighter. You'll probably be easy to train, and I'll bet you'll pick up your spirit energy skills rather quickly." "You've probably read what I want you to do. Run to the restroom for me and get Hiei. I'll give you 30 minutes, but you'll probably just need five."

Leela starts to run, when she feels energy swirling around her and she zips like a rocket along the wall. She sees the door to the restroom. She spots him walking out and tries to stop herself and slides into the floor, breaking the tiles with her feet. He finds her lying on her back in a cloud of dust. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I was running when this energy took over my body and uh…how did I get here so fast?"

"Yeah, especially when this room is a mile from Koenma's office. That's something else you can do. He must have sent you down here to test your speed."

"How long do this spirit energy stuff last? I've had super powers from this Wonder Crème Dr. Zoidberg gave to me but the powers were only temporary."

"I guarantee you it'll last you your whole life. This energy is generated by your spirit."

Leela starts to sit up and feels a sharp pain on her back. "It feels like my back is on fire."

"That's because of the sliding impact from trying to stop abruptly. When you get to your destination, you have to slow your inertia down. You can adjust the speed by your own will power. You'll learn to control it soon enough. I'll even teach you, if you want."

"Thanks." Leela tries to stand, staggering to her feet. She feels her stomach getting queasy. "Why do I…Hiei, out of the way." She races into the restroom and plops her face over a toilet.

Hiei walks over and holds her hair back. "Why did I throw up just now? Is it because of my new powers?"

"That was also from trying to stop like that. Your body can handle the speed, but stopping just abruptly is like instantly cutting power to a speeding Tilt-a-whirl. You have to start slowing down about fifty feet from your destination."

"But, you cut your speed instantly."

"I've had 700 years to practice. Plus you've got to remember I'm a demon. Your body also needs time to adjust. That's another reason you got sick." Leela closes her eye. She flushes the toilet and tries to stand up. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. It was just for that instance."

"I know Koenma sent you to get me, so how about we fly back to him. I'll even hold your hand, since you're brand new at speed running." The pair walks out of the restroom. "Are you ready?"

Leela nods and the two start running. Again she feels energy around her and zip towards the office door, with Hiei holding her hand. "Another thing you should do is breath every so often. I notice you're holding your breath. You'll pass out rather quickly if you do that. Just breathe normally and calm down." "Alright, we're about fifty feet from Koenma's office. How you slow down is just relax your body. Just don't relax too much, or you'll pee on yourself in mid-flight. I've done that before, especially in my earlier days."

Leela breathes deep and feels her pace starting to slow. She reaches the door, gliding her feet to the floor. She lands but starts to stumble. Hiei catches her, preventing her from falling. "I'm back," Leela pants, weary from the flight.

"What took you so long?" Koenma demands, "I said 30 minutes. That was one and a half hours."

"Oh cut her some slack, you half-wit. Leela's never had these powers before and it's only been a few hours since she got them." He looks at Leela and sees a pale complexion on her face. "Are you feeling all right? Do you feel sick again?"

"No, I just can't see. Everything's going black. I can't stand…up." Leela collapses in his arms.

"Okay, she's fainted. Earlier she threw up. Her body is trying to adjust to the spirit energy you've helped her unleash."

"Well that's odd," replies Botan, "Yusuke didn't react to like that."

"That's because he was dead first. Plus he was 14 when he got those powers," reminds Koenma.

"I'm taking her home to rest."

"Mmph, Hiei, when will this end?" Leela stirs and wakes up in his arms. "If I had known getting spirit powers was going to make me sick, I wouldn't have done it."

He touches her forehead. "You're burning up. I'm taking you home and putting you to bed." Hiei picks her up and zips away from Spirit World.

Back at Mukuro's tower, he lays Leela in the bed. "You're so kind. Sorry I got sick earlier. I try to keep that hidden and make you think I've been drinking too much."

"Don't be sorry, you're just trying to adjust to your powers. It's just like the way Mukuro was when she got pregnant. The first few days, she couldn't keep anything down. By the way, I took the liberty and put a bucket beside your head."

"Thanks," Leela sighs, "So was she bedridden?"

"She was for three days. That's probably how long you'll be sick for with your spirit powers. For some people, it takes awhile to adjust. I think with your strength and body, it'll be like the flu. You'll be feeling better, maybe sooner than you think."

"You said she was in bed for three days. Where did she…"

"There's a barrel on the other side with water. Why, do need to use it?"

"Not right now, but I will in a few minutes."

"I'll leave for now. I'm going to make soup for you. It's just chicken soup. Do you think you'll be able to hold that down?"

"I'll try," Leela smiles, watching Hiei zips out of the room. 'Wow, if only Fry was this nice when I had the stomach flu. He wouldn't even approach me while I was puking. Bender was no help at all by laughing at me. Hiei's more of a man than Fry.' Leela slides out of bed and sits over the barrel. 'I should do something for Hiei. He's been so nice to me he deserves a gift. Maybe I'll take him out.'

She sees Botan fly into the room. "Hey, Leela. Do you feel any better?"

"I'm still a bit queasy, but other than that I'm okay." Leela climbs off the barrel and back into bed. "Are you here just to check up?"

"Koenma told me Genkai had the same reaction when she got her powers. She was twelve when she got them and it took her awhile to get adjusted. She was sick for the first three days, threw up a lot. But by the third day, she started to feel better and used her spirit powers for the next few weeks."

"Say, Botan could you hold my hair back. My stomach's calling me." Botan complies and Leela rolls over to the bucket. "Sorry you have to see this," Leela apologizes between lurches.

"I'm not disgusted. I've seen worse things."


	15. Chapter 15

Several weeks go by and Leela's practices spirit energy techniques at Genkai's Temple. Ever since Leela returned from Spirit World, she has been practicing with her spirit powers and combines them with her own fighting style.

"All right, Leela," Genkai instructs, "hold out your right palm and grasp your left hand around it. You've got it. It's just what I showed you yesterday. Gather your energy towards the palm. That's it; you're picking this stuff up quickly. Now blast." Leela blasts through a dummy hanging on a string.

"I hit it. But that was slow, what if the enemy is moving?"

"Then you run and shoot. It's the same technique you use with your gun. Pull it out."

Leela complies and pulls her gun out. "Get ready." Genkai presses a button on a remote in her hand and races a dummy around on a track above Leela's head. Leela gives chase and quickly aims the gun and fires, blowing the dummy to pieces.

"The moves were great, but now I want you to try that with just your fingers."

"Why just my fingers?"

"Sometimes the enemy will knock your weapon away. You need to use other means to kill him." Leela notices Yusuke standing in the doorway.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"I've been watching your moves. You're even stronger now."

"Dimwit, you can take lessons from her. Leela, take a break."

"Thanks ma'am." Leela bows to Genkai.

"See, she's even polite."

"You thought Genkai was hard. I like her. She's better than Fnog."

"Who's Fnog?"

"He was my sensei since I was six. Although he didn't take me seriously as a fighter, just because I'm a girl."

"He's so wrong. Not only are a strong fighter, but I'd like to see you beat the old fart with your powers."

"Yeah, I'll show him one day and power punch his head right off." Leela punches the air with her fist; accidentally letting power burst out of her hand and hit a distant tree, knocking it over. "Whoops. Didn't mean to do that?"

"I think you're ready to resume training."

"Say Yusuke, how long have you known Hiei for?"

"Too long."

"What does he like?"

"You should know, you live with the guy."

"Yeah, but I want to do something for him. A gift or something."

"Being his girl is good enough for him. He's been lonely, even while Mukuro was still alive. You loving him is what he wants."

"I do love him with all my heart. He's all I think about anymore. Fry is nothing more than a distant memory. I want to stay with Hiei. What if I could give him that?"

"Do you mean? He's more of a traditionalist though. Maybe he'll go for it still."

She sees Hiei zip in through the door. "Weren't you just on a human rescue?"

"Some idiot's in the woods in Demon World that won't let me help him. He's screaming at me whenever I approach the car and has bolted himself inside."

"Can I come with you? I'm used to dealing with stubborn humans. Genkai, I've got to leave with Hiei."

"Sure go on. Class is over anyways." Leela bows to her then bolts out the door, following Hiei.

Leela leaps to the top of a tree and chases Hiei through the trees. Both cross the border and head south. "Where is he?"

"About 400 miles from here. Will you be able to make it?"

"No problem. This is neat. I like flying without that cumbersome jetpack."

"I knew you would. I've also noticed you're not using much spirit energy to fly. That's good on demon hunts and human rescues."

"What does this car look like?"

"It's a silver car. Has no wheels on it. Don't know where it came from."

"Wait there it is," Leela points. She zips downs through the trees and towards the car on the ground.

Leela lands first and Hiei follows suit. She sees two demons standing guard in front of the car. "Miss Leela, thank goodness you're here. He's been calling your name for hours."

"How does he know my name? Stand back, I'll open the door. Hiei, you grab him, incase he escapes."

"Sure, my dear," he smiles at her.

She turns and blinks at him. "Maybe afterwards I'll treat you to some ramen."

Leela wraps her mind around the door and telekinetically opens it. "Fry, it's you."

"Leela, you're here? Oh, baby I've missed you."

"Yeah, so have I. No, Fry I won't go out with you."

"How did you know that?"

"I'm psychic. Fry, I've been through some changes. I'm also seeing someone."

"What!? Who are seeing?"

"Hiei, could you come here, please?" He steps forward and drapes his arm on her shoulders.

"Yeah well the Professor wants you back at the office. Hop in the car, now."

Leela looks at the car for a moment then her eye widens. "Hiei, would you like to come with me? I know of a great ramen place."

He nods follows Leela into the back seat of the car. "Why's he coming? He's a scary gross mutant."

"Fry that was out of line, even for you."

Leela closes the door and powers the car. The car flies into the air and zips to 90 mph. Blue light engulfs the car and takes off.

"Are you all right, dear? You look nervous."

"I'm not nervous," says Fry.

"I wasn't talking to you." "Hiei, how are you holding up?"

"I just…this is the first time I've left Japan. Will your friends accept me?"

Leela looks out the window to see the New New York skyline. She nudges Hiei to look, but finds him asleep on her shoulders. The car comes to a stop in front of the Planet Express building.

"Wake up, my prince."

Hiei opens his eyes and stretches. "Guess I do fall asleep when I'm not flying."

"You did that when you fought that demon last week. Yusuke told me you blow your energy on an enemy, and then passed out." Leela quickly snatches the flux-capacitor out of the car and slips it into her wristband.

"Why did you do that?" asks Hiei

"To get home. Why else?"

"You are home," informs Fry.

"Fry, no, this isn't home anymore. In fact, I'm thinking about quitting here." Leela escorts Hiei to the building and through the office door.

"You can't quit. You're a spaceship captain and that's all you'll ever be."

"I'm training for border patrol."

"Awesome, Leela. Koenma will be proud to here that."

"I was wanting to surprise you. Hiei, if you want to freshen up, there's a bathroom right behind the conference area."

Hiei takes her upon her offer walks in. "All right, explain Leela. What makes him so awesome?" demands Fry.

"Hiei's a really sweet guy. He's got a wild side to him, which I love about him. Plus he's so hot. Also he accepted me from the very moment we met."

"Welcome home, Leela," chimes Bender giving her a hug.

"I've missed you too, Bender." She listens to the toilet flush and sees Hiei walk out, "Who's this ugly dork?"

"Hey, he's not ugly. Take it back."

"You're the dork, metal man."

"Bender if you don't be nice, I'll steal your beer."

"How dare you threaten me and my beer!"

"Yeah you steal it and I'll drink it in front of him," laughs Hiei.

"Is everyone here right now?" Leela asks Fry.

"Sure, you want to meet here or in the lounge?"

"You'll sleep in the lounge, Fry. Please just ask the Professor to hold a meeting." Leela rubs her face. She sits on the table.

"What's wrong?" Hiei laughs.

"Nothing, I had forgotten the morons I work with." She beckons him to stand in front of her. She places her arms around his shoulders. "When we get done here, how about I treat you to this restaurant I know?"

"That sounds tempting. What sort of food is served?"

"Anything you desire. How about an appetizer first? It's from my restaurant, called Kiss Me or Else." Hiei locks lips with Leela.

"I'm…mm…loving the…mm…food already." The two continue to kiss, not paying attention to people walking in the room.

"Ooh, Leela's got a boyfriend," chimes Amy.

"Yes, indeed," remarks Farnsworth, "Who's this upstanding lad, Leela?"

"They spotted us. Are we boned?" Leela asks Hiei in an alluring voice.

"Whatever that means, no."

Leela stands up from the table and faces her co-workers. "Let me introduce you. This is my newest boyfriend, Hiei. I met him when the time machine crashed in the 21st century. We've been together since." First she points to the red-haired man sitting next to her. "You've already met Fry. The old man next to him is Professor Farnsworth."

"That's Hubert Farnsworth," the Professor interrupts.

"The Asian girl next to him is Amy."

"Hi, handsome," she flirts.

"What about me?" whines Zoidberg.

"I'm getting to you," promises Leela.

"Sitting at the end of the table is Dr. Zoidberg."

"He looks like the demon I fought with yesterday."

"Yeah, but Zoidberg is much weaker than him and more of a wuss."

"Hey, I'm not weak! I'm the strongest lobster in this room."

"Zoidberg, the guy Hiei was fighting was as strong as Emperor Lrrr."

"Then it's true. I am weak. Boo hoo hoo hoo," Zoidberg cries into his claws.

"What's the matter with him?"

"Hiei, he does that all the time. Okay so the Jamaican man next to him is our accountant, Hermes."

"Hey while you're here, Hiei, I can file your taxes for you."

"We've come back here for a visit. We're not staying here."

"Bull pie. You work here, remember," retorts Farnsworth.

"No we're going back to the 21st century. Besides we can't stay here, his son is waiting back home."

"You have a child together? When did you get pregnant?" Fry starts to whine. "I thought you were saving yourself for me."

"Hiro's not her baby. My last girlfriend and I had him. But she's dead. She died back in May. Leela and I have been taking care of him. Right now, he's with my sister, Yukina."

"Aw, sorry you've lost your first girlfriend," Amy replies in a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah, I still miss her. I'm trying like hell to let her go, but…" Leela turns and hugs him.

"I know it was hard to lose Mukuro. It'll take time to heal from that blow. Do you want to take a walk?"

"Naw, I'll be fine," Hiei assures, wiping tears from his face.

"I've been there," replies Bender, "I remember losing Eleanor when Zapp flew the Titanic into that black hole."

"So, what did you do in his time period?" asks Amy.

Leela explains her whole story to the rest of her friends. She tells them about Seiichi and his group. She tells them about her girlfriends. She talks about Yusuke and Kurama.

"Fry, why were you in Demon World anyways?"

"I was trying to search for you."

"You wouldn't last two minutes in Demon World. You ought to be glad I found you first," scolds Hiei, "If a man-eater would have found you, you'd be dead. One of the reasons Leela survived is she's a serious fighter. Now she's a spiritual fighter and she can cream any demon's ass."

"Do you want to spar?" asks Leela, "I want to show you what I've been learning from Genkai. We can use the docking bay if you want."

"It's kind of small. Besides that huge thing is in the way."

"What do you mean you'll fight in there?" asks Fry.

"Just shut up and watch."

Hiei removes his cape and follows Leela to the docking bay. "Do you want to fight at 100?"

"Their eyes are too slow. Make it 50."

"I guess," he sighs.

"50 what?" asks Amy.

"Miles per hour. Speed fighting is a specialty for us. Hiei's been mastering it since what?"

"700 years. But don't sell yourself short, Leela, you've picked it up in just a couple of months. That's way better than Yusuke. I've seen you beat him in sparring."

Leela springs into the air and lands on the ship. Hiei stands on the hanger's railing, charging himself up. Leela faces him from the hood of the spaceship and charges herself. "Ready?"

"Let's do it." Both zip into the air and Leela meets him, fist to fist. He tries to grab her by the neck, but she slips away and counters with a quick jab to his face. He swerves and lands on the ship. Immediately he flies at her and she strikes him with a kinetic blast from her right fist.

"Is that from what Genkai taught you?"

"Yeah, I just picked that up today. Impressed?"

"Yes, for a human that's good. Can you counter a dragon blast?"

"Not in here, that would destroy the building and waste your energy."

"Fine then I'll just make it small and direct it at you." He sends a black ball of energy her way. She blocks it with an energy blast from her palms. Both energies fought and canceled each other. Leela starts to fall and springs to the ship. Hiei starts to pant and lands on the spaceship too.

"You want to call a break. You look tired."

"I'm fine, but yeah that's enough." Both leap into the air and return to the conference room.

"Wow that was amazing, Leela," applauds Amy, "How are you able to stay in the air without a jetpack?"

"I've had spirit energy training. Koenma opened up my body's channels for energy release and control."

"Yeah but for the first three days you were sick. You filled up that bucket I gave you. Also Genkai told me when you started training, the first couple of sessions you had to take a few breaks to throw up."

"I don't do that anymore. I've gotten used to the spirit energy."

"Yeah, now it's like second nature to you. Even now flying isn't such a big deal. How fast are you?"

"How fast was it when we found Fry?"

"About 400 miles per hour."

"That was my max speed."

"You fly as fast as 400 miles per hour? But the jetpacks only go up to 100," informs the Professor.

"That's why I don't use one anymore. Too slow and bulky."

Leela glances at Hiei, tapping her fingers on her folded arm. "Do you want to head out? I can take you to El Zar's. Let me freshen up first then we'll go." Leela hastens into the bathroom. Hiei waits by the door for her.

"So you're from Japan? What's the 21st century like?" asks Amy.

"Just home for me. Most of my friends live in Tokyo in the Human World."

"Can you teach me how to fight with speed?" asks Bender.

"I could, can you move at 100 mph?"

"With practice I could. My father was a rocket."

"Pssh, he was not. You were built on an assembly line," corrects Fry.

"Bender, you couldn't even run 100 mph with Miracle Cream," informs Leela, emerging from the bathroom, "Wow, when you got to go."

"You've got to learn to control that. You're the only person I know who has to pee after a fight."

"I know. I just get so worked up. Besides it's not like I have to go after all my battles."

"Two weeks ago, when we fought Rattia and her sisters at the border. Right after killing them, we barely got back to the tower when you practically rammed through the doorway and into the bathroom on the first floor."

"Hiei, you know perfectly well I told you I had to go before the fight. I told you I had drank green tea earlier at Genkai's. But no, you wanted me to fight the demons instead. That's why we killed them so fast."

"Anyways, I've got my debit card in my pocket. Shall we go out?" "See you all later."

Hiei wraps himself in his cape and heads out the door with Leela. They walk out the sidewalk in front of the Antechamber doors and zip off into the air.

"By flight, the restaurant isn't that far. We should arrive there in less than five minutes."

"That's good, the sparring match has me starving. Hold up though," he requests. He leaps to the rooftop of a building. Leela pauses and stands on a space tube in front of him.

"What's wrong? Are you out of energy already?"

"Hardly. Aren't you carrying that device with you?"

"The flux-capacitor? Yeah, why?"

"We were moving at 100 mph just now. Wouldn't it send you back in time again?"

"That's our ticket home."

"But what if you get zapped through now and leave me behind."

"I couldn't do that if I wanted to. I only have it with me so the Professor wouldn't get any bright ideas to break it and force us to stay. The flux-capacitor works with the mechanisms of a car. Really any car will do."

"Didn't you say he invented the thing?"

"He said it, but flux-capacitors are mass produced. Most hardware stores carry them. Hey, it's good you have to use it in a car. Since we're here, I also know of great places for shopping. I want to pick up something for Hiro."

The pair resumes their flight. "Do you really want to go back? I mean you seem so at home here."

"Hiei, I wasn't really happy here. My life was stuck in a rut, my salary is always getting cut, people here make fun of cyclopes, and I never really felt I belonged here. I feel more at home in Tokyo and Mukuro City. I've always wanted a job where I can fight and hurt people. Fighting demons gives me such a rush. Plus, if I stayed here, I'd miss Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru. I'd love to be a new mom to Hiro, if you'll let me. He needs a mom. And I want the privilege of marrying you someday and have your baby. I think Hiro deserves a little brother or sister."

"You really want that? Leela, you've changed. When we met you were so impulsive. But I see you've put a great deal of thought into your plans. I feel honored to have you for a wife. I wasn't this happy, even with Mukuro."

The two fly down and land near the entryway at El Zar's Restaurant. The two walk in and are greeted by the chef. "Welcome back, Leela. Who's your gentleman friend?"

"This is Hiei. Table for two please."

"Certainly ma'am. Is he your usual date?"

"No we're serious. We've been going steady for two months."

"Sounds great, Leela. You've hardly ever sounded serious about anyone. Sir, would you care for a menu, since you're new?"

"Sure, thank you," replies Hiei gladly, bowing to El Zar.

"You're not from this country, are you?"

"I'm Japanese. It's the custom to bow before such a generous man like you."

"I like this guy, Leela. I say he's a keeper." The two sit on opposite sides of the table. "Wave to me after you decide."

"Wow, Leela, your menus are easy to read. Kurama was right about the restaurants in America."

"I'm starting to pick up on Japanese, it's just the characters are confusing."

"Yeah, I know. Sometimes I have trouble reading myself. Why do us Japanese got to make reading so damn hard?" sighs Hiei, searching through, "Mm, this rock lobster looks good. Think I'll try that."

"That was my thought. White wine goes great with that."

Leela waves her hand. "Be there in a second," hollers El Zar.

"Oh great," Leela rolls her eye and covers her face with her menu.

"What's the matter, Le…"

"Shh, don't say my name or that blond idiot by the door will come over here."

"Who, that self-important dork? Is that the guy you hate?"

"With a passion. And he's thinking about walking this way. I'm boned."

"Don't worry, he's got the energy of a zenith demon. He's not a threat."

"Nope, just a really bad annoyance."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the luscious Leela? My guess is you came here knowing I'd be coming through."

"Fat chance, dill weed. We're just visiting," informs Hiei.

"Who's this pipsqueak? Why are you with my Leela?"

"Like I was ever yours."

"Why are you bothered by him? I've met demons more annoying."

"Watch it, Shorty. I could punch you right here and now."

"I like good challenges, Lard-o, but your strength level is so weak it barely registers. Bet you even move like a slug."

"Don't encourage him, Hiei," Leela laughs, "Zapp doesn't stand a chance against you anyways." Leela holds her palm out towards Zapp and forms a ball of energy. "Now unless you want to know what 50 volts of kinetic energy feels like, Zapp, then you'd better leave this table now."

"Witchcraft, huh? Fine then. I don't need your voodoo." Zapp scoots away and flees. Leela closes her hand and reabsorbs the energy in her body.

"Only 50?"

"I can go to 300, but Zapp's a fly compared to Seiichi. Why waste energy on someone that weak?"

"Good point."

"Have you folks decided?" asks El Zar.

"Yeah, we're having the same dish. Rock lobster and white wine, please."

"Excellent choice, by the way the lobsters are on sale this week. Half off."

"Yeah I noticed. Thank you El Zar."

El Zar leaves the table and heads to the kitchen. "Leela, I've got to confess. This era is strange. So are your friends. I can see Amy is a strong fighter but Bender. His power levels are weak."

"Why do you think I like your era so much? I had to get away from here somehow. Of course if I wasn't so impulsive and didn't take that time machine, we wouldn't have met."

"That's what I like about you. That's why making love with you is so fun. Mukuro was never that spontaneous."

Leela checks the calendar on her wristband. "I was caught up from my lessons from Genkai. Tomorrow is Freedom Day. We can do whatever we want."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking about sparring at 100 mph. We can fly out to Washington D.C. tomorrow. We can make love in the Rose Garden, swim at Memorial Lake, and then fly back to the Planet Express to watch fireworks."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Here you go, Leela. Sorry it took so long. I had to fight one of the lobsters. He wasn't going to be cooked."


	16. Chapter 16

After dinner the two walked the sidewalk, waiting for their food to settle. "That lobster was fantastic, Leela."

"I knew you liked it. That's the first El Zar's ever been bowed to. I'm even starting to make that my greeting now." The pair walks by the jet skating rink. "Hiei, how slow can you go? What's your slowest speed?"

"My slowest? About 20 mph, why?"

"While our food settles, do you want to skate?"

"That sounds good, but I didn't bring ice skates."

"We don't even need skates. I can travel 20 without trying too hard."

The pair approaches the rink floor and draw energy to their feet. "Jet rink, please program to 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' by Elton John," requests Leela.

"How did you know that was my favorite song? I've never told that to anyone, not even Mukuro."

"I read your mind. You told me in thought."

"What else am I thinking about?" he asks, taking her by the hand.

"That you don't want to wait for tomorrow. You want to make love tonight."

"Did you take your pills?"

"As always. We can't do it here though." Leela looks around the rink and a roaming kiosk off to the side. "You want to really live it up. Your song is great, but what a snooze fest."

Leela leaps into the air and lands in front of the kiosk, startling the robotic vendor. Hiei follows her, scaring him even more. "W…what do you want f…from me?"

"We'd like two super soakers, please," requests Leela.

"W…water, oil, or koniak?"

"Water please."

"That'll be $10."

"Do you accept debit?"

"Yes, just don't kill me?" Leela swipes her card through the vendor's mouth and he hands each of them a super soaker.

"What do we do with these things? I've seen Yusuke's and Kurama's kids with these things, but I've never fired one before."

"Weren't you a kid at one point?"

"Yes, but never got to act like one."

"Well…" she aims and shoots him in the mouth.

"What was that for?" he retorts.

Leela smirks at him and bounds into a nearby tree. "The rule of the game is to get even. Come after me, little man, if you think you're good enough," she beckons, leaping to the branch of another tree.

"I'll show you, Missy!" He zips into the tree and Leela gives chase, blasting water at him. He catches up to her and returns fire. She swerves to avoid the water and gets her chest soaked.

"Oh yeah!" she challenges, shooting water in his direction. She dodges his attack and heads straight into Monument Park. She lands atop one of the Easter Island statues. She catches Hiei's streak coming at her and blasts him, hitting him in the foot. Quickly she zips away and lands on the Eiffel Tower, clinging to side. She quickly spots Bender looking up at her, but dodges away from Hiei's gun.

"I'm out of water," he announces to her. Leela lands on the rooftop of White House replica, trying to catch her breath.

"Just uh…just fill it up at the lake," Leela pants. "Nice to see you, Bender."

"Yeah I was in the area. Are you trying to break my eyes? What gives with the speed?"

"I've had spirit energy training."

"What's that? Is that like robo-training?"

"Can't say." Leela glances at her gun's water level. She leaps to the ground and walks over to the lake. She kneels down and removes the tank, placing it into the water. While it automatically fills itself, she tries to ring out her tank top."

"How fast were you guys going? It was just too fast for me to read."

"Hiei, how fast were going?"

"I'd say about 150 miles," he replies, while cupping water in his hands and drinking. "Between 150 and 170 mph."

"And with no jetpack? Where is yours anyway, Leela?"

"Left it back in Mukuro City. It's still in the tower. I don't need that stupid thing, not when I've got spirit power. So…are you calling quits tonight?"

"Who me?" asks Bender.

"Hiei's tired. He wants to crash. You can sleep at my place. It's not far from here."

"Thanks." Leela grabs the tank and pops it back on her gun.

"Are you able to manage? It's only a few blocks from here. We can get there in five minutes by air."

"Sure," he yawns. Leela zips over to him.

Leela straps both guns across her back. "You're not going to make it, are you? Look you're already staggering." She picks him up her arms and springs off. "See you tomorrow at Freedom Day, Bender," she hollers back. She barely makes it out of the park, when she feels her beloved's body fall limp in her arms. She flies until she finds her apartment building and lands on her floor's window. She slides it open and leaps inside.

Leela swipes a door-key from her pocket through the key-panel to unlock the door and makes her way inside. She opens the bedroom door to find Nibbler asleep on her bed. She ushers him to move and lays Hiei on the bed. Nibbler chirps and clicks at his new guest, staring at him curiously in the face.

"Shh, don't disturb him, Nibbler," Leela whispers, "He's had a long day." She sneaks into her closet to the left of her bed and pulls out her nighty. She stands next to the door beside the closet and presses a button, opening her bathroom. Minutes later she reemerges wearing her nighty and dumps her wet clothes into a hamper.

Leela tiptoes over to Hiei and loosens his cape from his back, slipping it off his body. She hangs it on a hook in the closet. She sits on her side of the bed and motions the anxious Nibbler to sit on her lap. He climbs up and licks her face.

"How have you been?" He squeaks and crackles at her. "I know I've missed you too." "Oh, that's Hiei. I'll introduce him to you in the morning. How does that sound?" "Yes, he is a nice man." "Nicer than you? Naw, you're the nicest one in the room." Nibbler squeaks and buries his face in her chest. "I won't leave you behind again." Leela lies on her bed and falls asleep with Nibbler on her stomach.

Early the next morning, Leela feels a nudge on her shoulder. "Leela," she hears Hiei whisper.

"Huh? Oh. Bathroom door's to the left of you beside the closet. Press the button to open the door," she informs with her eye still closed and half asleep.

"Thanks," he replies. Leela nods her head and falls back to sleep, with Nibbler on her stomach. A short time later, Nibbler chirps into Leela's ears.

"Mm. Morning, Nibbler." "Oh, he's back in here." Leela opens her eye and sees Hiei sitting on the bed.

"Hey, princess. How was your first night back in your bed?"

"Almost feels strange, like it's not mine anymore." Leela stretches her arms and back and sits up.

"Who's this little guy?" Hiei holds his hand out to the curious alien.

"This is Nibbler. Can you say 'hi'?" Nibbler chirps and repeats 'hi' to Hiei, laughing at him. He clings his little black fist around Hiei's index finger and inspects his hand.

"You can read my palm? What does it say?" "My lifeline is long." "Right, I am 754." "Yeah, I've had my heart broken recently." "You're saying I should stick with the new love in my life?" "Leela, your pet's a pretty smart guy. Cute too." Nibbler climbs up Hiei's arm and give him a little lick on his cheek. "Thank you, you're sweet."

Leela smiles at Nibbler climbing on Hiei. She watches her little alien slip the headband off and tries to wear it himself. He jerks to view Hiei's face, and starts chirping and cooing. "Yes, he's got three eyes, same as you."

"Oh you think that one's neat. No I can't see out of it. Oh, you can see out of yours."

"I see you've found a new friend, huh Nibbler?"

"I like him. What is he? Where did you find him?"

"He's a Neptcronian I found on the planet Vergon 6. Fry, Bender, and I were ordered to retrieve animals from this planet that was about to explode. In the middle of loading the starship with these animals, he showed and hung around me. I saved him and brought him here. Now he lives with me and comes to work with me everyday." "Do you mind if you could watch him while I use the bathroom and get dressed for the day?"

"Not at all. I want to visit with him some more." Leela grabs another tank top and pants from her closet and strides into the bathroom. Nibbler crawls to Hiei's right arm and investigates the bandage. "Do you want to see underneath there? Don't worry it won't bite right now; I've got my energy relaxed. Watch this." He takes the end of tape with his left hand and slowly unwraps the bandage on his arm. Nibbler's eyes become fixated on the arm.

"Ooh, neeackph caa ooh mm."

"Yeah, I think the tattoo is neat, too." "It does look like a dragon. That's because it is a dragon." "Yes, it has a purpose. I can summon a very mean dragon with it." "No, he's asleep now." "I'm going to wrap Mr. Dragon up now, okay." "Well he's being a lazy dragon right now, so we'll let him sleep. Besides, I don't think Miss Leela would appreciate having him here." Hiei rewraps his arm. "There now he can go back to sleep."

Leela reemerges from the bathroom, fully dressed. "How did everything go out here?"

"He was a darling." "Leela, I've got to ask something about that bathroom. Is there anything not automatic in there?"

"Not really. Most things are automatic anymore. That's just how things are in this era." Leela sighs and looks at Hiei. "You ready to split? My car is downstairs in the garage. How about I drive you around town?" she asks, while closing and locking the door behind her.

"I thought you said this was "Freedom Day? Why don't we fly?"

"I mean to go shopping. You can't expect to fly and carry stuff with you. Besides, there are Freedom Day sales everywhere. Last night's lobster was the start of it. I want to pick up something for Shizuru; her birthday is next Saturday. I also want to get something for Hiro. Besides, Hiei, a little cruise around town would be nice, don't you think?" The two zip down the long flight of steps to the garage. Leela strolls to her car with a sad glaze over her eye. She looks at him, as they take their seats inside her car. "I just want to treat you the way you treated me in your world. Can't I just do that for you? I really like you, Hiei. You're such a sweet guy who deserves happiness in his life. I want to help you achieve that." The doors latch behind them and the car powers up.

Leela flies out of the garage and into the city. She presses a button and automatically lowers the roof. "Why are you so tense, Hiei? Try to relax."

"This automatic crap is making me nervous."

"Why should it? You've got automatic stuff too. That hospital Kurama works at is loaded too. The week after getting over being sick, I asked him if I could come in and get a physical. While I was in the restroom, peeing into the cup he gave me, that freaking toilet shot me in the ass with water."

"That's in the restrooms right now. Yusuke's school is even thinking about inserting smart technology in the classrooms. There are so many foreign students from the Army Bases and the foreign exchange program; the school is considering an upgrade to computers in the classroom, requiring each student to bring a laptop. He told me the other day the computers would allow foreign students to translate Japanese Kanji into text of their language, then translate back the answers for the teacher. He said it would cut down on the paperwork."

"Do you remember when we fought Seiichi's group? Kurama provided the blue tooths and Yusuke the Helios. I'm so glad you live in a time with those devices. Even with the group divided into four, then our split individually at the school, it was so nice that we were still connected. I'd hate to think what would happen if we didn't have that technology. I don't think Kurama would have heard me scream. I was so afraid those two demons in the lab were going to kill me." Leela parks the car in front of Macy's and powers it down. "I don't want you to suffer anymore. I don't want to die and leave you, too. You've had too much sadness in your life; I don't want to add to it. Why did your mother die anyways? Why did you have to be so alone? If I could go back to when you really needed someone…" Leela folds her arms over the steering wheel and bursts out crying.

Hiei wraps his arms around her. "It's okay. You're always there for me. You're like a mom already to Hiro. I need you now in my life. I'm not lonely anymore. I love you, Leela. You mean so much to me. I know you've been lonely too. I'm here for you as well." "Leela, may I borrow some money today? Please don't read my mind right now, I want to surprise you tonight during the fireworks show."

Leela slips into her glove compartment and pulls out a device with another debit card. She slides her card across the other one. "Is 20 percent fine? You're not going to need much money since everything's 80 percent off today. Stores around here make their huge sales during Freedom Day. It's even better than X-mas."

"Can I leave my sword in the car? Will anyone steal it?"

"Sure, I was about to ax you anyways." He removes the sword and its sheath from his waist and places it in the back seat. "Don't worry about it getting stolen." The two exit the car and watch the doors latch themselves. Leela presses a button on her wristband camouflaging the car making it appear invisible.

"Not even heat sensitive robots can find it. A bunch of cars are like that. Even if anyone can still see it, you need the automation code to get in, and I'm the only one who knows the combination."

They walk through the entryway and into the store. Leela pulls a tiny device from her wristband and clips it his shirt. "Grab a cart and just tell it which department you want. It'll take you directly to the right floor and department."

Hiei steps in front of a cart and sees a map and directory in front of him. "Where do you want to meet?"

"Back here in an hour?" He nods and commands the map. Immediately it hovers and takes off with him.

"Leela, nice to see you here," greets Amy.

"I had to come today and take advantage of sales. Also I wanted to take Hiei out on the town." "Women's Department, please," Leela commands her shopping cart.

"Same, Women's," "By the way, Kiffy and I saw you at dinner last night. He admired how you handled Zapp. He wished he had that much guts."

"Plus, Hiei's with me. He wouldn't stand a chance against Hiei. You should see the way he handles that sword. He slices through a monster like butter. Zapp would be dead before he realized it."

"Tee hee, does he have a brother?"

"Nope, just the one sister."

"I've got to say he's a hottie. I liked him from when you introduced him. No wonder you fell for him so quickly."

"I know. I love him so much. I'd give anything to marry him."

"But what about Fry? Don't you love him too?"

"I did, but I just lost feelings for him. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I just don't feel the same way about him anymore. Besides I don't want to leave Hiei. He's had such a lonely life. At least Fry had the chance to be raised and loved by his parents. Hiei never knew his. He never talks about his father and his mom killed herself when he was a baby. Plus he's been alone his whole life. His friend, Kurama, told me he's been very lonely, even while his late girlfriend was still around. I don't want to leave him and add to his pain. There's no way I'll abandon him."

"You've really thought things through, Leela. Never seen this side of you before. It's more than just you dating someone. Maybe it was a good thing you left for the 21st century."

"We're going back tomorrow. I wanted to just come by and visit here. I've got work tomorrow at the Demon World border. Also I've got training with Genkai."

"How are you getting there? The Professor dismantled the car and broke the flux-capacitor. "

"Don't tell him, but that was the one that burned out on me. I've hidden the working one. I read his mind when we arrived back here. He wanted to do that, so I switched it out."

Leela walks past an aisle of leather pants. She finds her size and presses a button on the tag. "You like this?" The button sends out a holograph of her wearing the pants.

"They certainly look great. I thought you had a black leather outfit."

"It's in my closet at home. I don't think Shizuru has anything like this though. Her birthday is next week."

"What does she look like?" Leela presses a button on her wristband and displays a full holographic photo of her. "She's very pretty. She's about your same height and body shape. Say, I've just thought of what might look good on her." Leela follows Amy to a rack of sexy dresses. Amy presses a button on a dress with a red long-sleeved top with a brassier mid-riff, a gold bejewel belt with rubies and a red skirt with the trim angled from just above the right knee to the left leg just above the ankle.

"She'd look good in that. Is there anything in royal blue? That's her favorite color."

"Sure," replies Amy. She presses the tag of a blue dress, showing the jewels as sapphires.

"Shizuru would love that. Oh I see it's held together in the back. I don't think she has anything like this in her closet. I know Kurama will most definitely be impressed, maybe even aroused." Leela places the dress in her shopping cart.

"What does this Kurama guy look like?" Leela switches the holograph to him. Amy looks at him with a glaze of fire in her eyes.

"Now that's a hottie! Wow, he's so…Does HE have a twin brother? I'm surprised you didn't fall for him. I love his hair. His eyes. Shizuru is so lucky to be married to him." Amy tries to pet his long red hair, but feels only the static from the holograph. "I wish I could touch him, or play with his hair. You at least get to talk to him and hang out with him and stuff," she whines and pouts.

"Amy, you wouldn't make it past the second date with him."

"What's he like though? What does he do?"

"He's a nice guy to hang around. He's sweet with his friends, loves Shizuru, and is an excellent father to his two kids."

"Oh, so he's a family man. What else, please? I've got to know. Does he have a brother?"

"He has a stepbrother. But I don't see him at all. I think he's moved to Australia. Besides, aren't you marrying Kiff?"

"We're engaged."

"I figured you were. I think it'd hurt Kiff's feelings if you broke up just to meet someone who's already married from 1000 years ago."

Amy moans. "Men's Department, please," Leela commands her cart. Amy repeats Leela's command to her own cart. Almost immediately the girls arrive in the Men's.

"So what are you getting here? Is it for…?"

"Shh," Leela ducks behind a rack of jeans, covering Amy's mouth. Leela watches Hiei walk by, checking out the clothes. Swiftly he walks by and out of her sight.

"What's the matter?"

"I want to buy something for him, but I want to surprise him."

"How about these jeans?"

"They're on sale too. I think he's an 8. His favorite color is black." Leela produces Hiei's holograph. She touches the button on the tag. "Need something more petite." "There he'd look good like that." Leela takes two pairs and puts them in her cart. "I'll go shopping for him again around X-Mas in his era."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous with Santa Claus around?"

"According to what Kurama and his son, Saito, have said, Santa's not a bad guy. Robot Santa doesn't exist in the 21st century. Kurama says Saito has a hard time waiting for Santa. He's even found him asleep in the living room, in a chair beside the tree, waiting for his arrival. Then at about 5AM, he wakes up to see the floor under the tree filled with presents and toys. Last year, Saito says he found this robot toy he begged Santa for, in his arms."

"Wow, I wish we had that. I'm starting to like the 21st century. I wish I was back there."

"You wouldn't last a week in Demon World. But I'd bet you'd like the girls in Tokyo. I know you'd love Hiro." Leela walks her cart to a hoop rack of leather jackets. She clicks a button and projects the image onto Hiei's holograph. "Is there a slender size? Not too slender. There, perfect. Think he'll like it? I know he doesn't have a leather jacket; I've seen his closet." Leela pulls out the jacket and finds a fierce golden dragon appliqué spread across the back with a ruby-colored rhinestone in its eye. She looks at the wide-open mouth of the dragon and sees a bright red flame appliqué shooting out. "Oh yeah, he would like this jacket. He loves dragons. He's got a really neat tattoo of one on his right arm."

Amy looks at a rack next to the jackets and finds a rack of mean-looking t-shirts. She sees three matching the dragon on the jacket. "Yeah, he'll love those. That fiery red color of the shirts looks awesome with the black. He needs more colors in his wardrobe; so far he only has browns and blacks." "Children and Baby, please," Leela commands her cart.

Amy repeats and the two girls speed to the department. Leela arrives at the location and finds Hiei standing beside a crib, looking at it with a forlorn expression on his face. He grasps the bars, shaking the crib. Leela looks at him, reading his thoughts. Tears start to form in her eye.

'Why did you go? Today was supposed to be our wedding. All our plans were so perfect. I remember last year when you got pregnant. We were in a store like this. You looked so excited shopping for baby stuff. You couldn't wait to show Hiro all that you bought him. We had his room designed so perfectly.' Hiei rests his head against the wooden bars. Leela walks over and places her hand upon his shoulder. His thoughts continue, 'Then when he was born, I remember how happy you were seeing his face. I remember waking up at 5AM with you in pain and your water broken. Kurama was in to help in the delivery. You held my hand as tight as possible. I watched Hiro's head emerge at 7:20. Then at 8:00 his body dropped into Kurama's arms. I felt so overjoyed listening to Hiro scream and cry. I remember watching him drink out of your good breast. You were such a good mother.' He clings his fist around the rails, tightly. Teardrops fall onto the quivering muscle on his arm. He drops to his knees. He feels the urge to break the bars of the crib, but his arms feel as weak as paper. Hiei closes his eyes and sobs, "We were supposed to live together, Mukuro, just the three of us." Leela draws him into her arms without saying anything. His arm falls limply onto her lap. Tears steam down his face, soaking her chest. "Wasn't that plan good enough? Why did you let Seiichi steal our dreams? Why did you have to die?"

Leela holds his head in her arms, stroking his hair with her fingers. "It's okay," she whispers to him, repeating the words softly into his ears. He weeps violently into her chest, with his tears rolling down between her cleavage, pooling on her stomach.

"What's wrong with him?" asks Amy in a sympathetic tone.

"He misses Mukuro. His thoughts are making me cry. He's telling me they were together for ten years." Leela holds him as tight as she can, rubbing his back.

"Did you say Mukuro? There's a tiger in the zoo that goes by that name. She's the oldest tiger there, about 1000 years old. But she certainly doesn't look it."

"She's here?" he gasps, looking at Amy desperately, while tears stream from his eyes.

"We can see her now, lets purchase what's in the carts now and go see her."

All three order their carts through checkout on the first floor. A robot scans their items and then the debit cards while dumping the items in three separate bags. Leela and Hiei zip outside and Leela quickly types out a combination on her wristband, making the car reappear and open the trunk. They pile the bags into the trunk and Leela pops the doors of the car open and both dash inside. The doors quickly latch themselves and the car quickly takes off. Leela flies the car as quickly as she can to the zoo. She flies through the zoo entrance and is quick to spot the tiger exhibit. The doors unlatch and Hiei zips out of the car. Leela looks around the enclosure and spots a white tiger sleeping in the shade, atop a huge rock slab.

Her nose twitches and she awakes to see her visitors. "Are you…?" Hiei looks at her, looking into her golden eyes. "Mukuro, is it really…" His eyes start to well with tears. The tiger growls at him in recognition. She leaps forward at the sight of him. He zips inside of the enclosure and stands in front of the animal. The tiger nuzzles him, breathing on his neck. She lies down on her stomach and embraces him with her front paw. He clenches his fists onto her fur, burying his face into her fury neck. "Mukuro, I…I miss…" His voice gets quickly overtaken by his tears and mournful sighs.

Leela speaks to Mukuro, telepathically. "It's so good to see you, again."

"Leela, thank you for bringing Hiei out here. I've felt his presence ever since yesterday. I sense he's happy with you."

"Yes, but he can't forget you. It's hard on him. He thinks about you all the time. He cries in his sleep at night. His dreams of you make him cry so hard; the tears completely soak the pillow. I try all I can to comfort him, but sometimes I feel it's not good enough. He really needs you near him."

"I know. I'm so sorry I left him like that. I didn't want to die and leave him behind. But when I saw you with him, holding him by my bedside, I knew he had someone he could lean on. You're a kind woman, Leela. Every so often when I slept in my cub body, I would check on you. I like how you've taken care of Hiei. I notice you've taken to our son as well. I know Hiro will grow up knowing you as his mother. I know you want to marry Hiei, and you will. He needs you in his life."

"I want marry him, but is he the one? I've had so many failed relationships in the past. I even married Fry, but divorced him almost immediately."

Mukuro rests her jaw on his shoulders, purring gently with her mouth ajar. "Fry wasn't the right one. I can't tell what your heart is saying but I think it's already chosen whom it wants you to be with. My advice is to listen to your heart rather than listening to your head. Koenma is right about you meeting Hiei. He knew it was no accident. It was meant to be like that."

"But I'm no good. I'm too impulsive and too quick to judge. I don't know if I have what it takes love him with my every being. I feel I'm not good enough for Hiei." Tears trickle down Leela's face.

Mukuro opens her round tiger-eyes and gazes at Leela. "Leela, it's okay to doubt, but don't sell yourself short. I know Hiei yearns for my touch, but he loves you. He's telling me right now. You'd make an excellent wife for him and a wonderful mother for Hiro. Also, I see someone else in your future, a little girl in fact. Maybe sooner than you think."

"Mu…Mukuro, s…so glad you're uh…" Hiei tries to collect his words, while being choked by tears. Mukuro rubs her face across his, licking his neck and shoulder with her pink fleshy tongue. She growls softly into his ears. "You look good like this," he sighs, trying to stifle his tears, "Your soul feels so much freer. Tell me what's it like being in this form." She growls in response. "I see, you feel much better. No more achy skin. Your old body was giving out anyway. I figured the pregnancy mostly caused your body to become weak. Seiichi poisoned you at your weakest state."

Mukuro growls at Hiei, then gently noses him with her muzzle. 'Is that what you want, Mukuro, for me to take care of Leela? Yes, I love her. But I don't know if I ever get over you. You want me to just let go.'

'Be strong, Hiei. It hurts me to see you like this. It's not like you to be so emotional. Please be strong for Leela's sake. I foresee you in the near future with a child between you. Please be there for her as well, just as you are for Hiro.'

'When, Mukuro? When do I have a child with Leela? Is it now? Is she…?'

'Not right now. The flesh isn't there. Her body is not formed yet. But Koenma has her soul at the moment. She died long ago and is wishing to return to life with a new body. She is wishing for someone like you to make her wish come true.'

He turns and looks up at Leela standing beside the car. The tears on his face are almost dry. 'Hiei, when you return to your own time, know that I'm there for you. You can see me as a cub at the Tokyo Zoo, anytime you wish.'

He smiles back at her and embraces her neck in his arms, hugging her for one last time. He breathes her in, reluctant to let go. Slowly he draws away from the huge cat and leaps back over the fence. Leela gazes at him with a sympathetic look in her eye. She embraces him in her arms, holding him close to her. She listens to him, has he tries to dislodge a lump in his throat. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I guess I will be, I just…" Hiei tries to refrain from crying again.

"I know it's not easy to just leave someone you loved, knowing you've found her again. We'll go to the zoo in Tokyo, as soon as we get back. You can see her as a cub."


	17. Chapter 17

Leela opens the car door when she suddenly pauses. She sniffs the air and gazes skyward, watching the clear azure sky suddenly become black. "Hiei, do you sense that?"

He immediately removes his sword and sheath from the backseat. "Just now I do. I sense in coming from the harbor."

Leela programs the car to fly back on its own to the garage and lock itself. "Mukuro," she shouts at the tiger, "can you put up a barrier for the other animals?"

"I can do more than that, Leela," she replies back. Suddenly a massive ball of white light engulfs the tiger's body. Golden lights of demonic energy encircle the ball, drawing into the center core like a whirlpool. Quickly the energy ball surges into Mukuro's body and she is transformed into a humanized form. Her body is covered in white tiger fur with stripes of silver. Her eyes glow bright gold and her hair flows in dazzling light silver. Her breasts and waist sport a heavy concentration of fur and down off the back of her body whips a long tiger tail. "Get going," she growls, "I'll hold off any demons headed this way."

Leela nods and zips off with Hiei towards the harbor. "How strong is Mukuro anyways? Will she be able to fend for herself?"

"Mukuro is a very powerful fighter. I have no doubt with that new body she acquired more powers and abilities. She was after all one of the kings of Demon World."

Leela turns her attention to the demon ahead of them. "I sensed the aura yesterday. As the car was about to disappear through to wormhole to this time, I saw something latch onto the rear of the car. Before we landed, it disappeared into the water."

"I felt it too. It's a delta class. My guess is it's preparing for tomorrow. It's waiting for us to leave. It most definitely wants to destroy the city and devour the inhabitants."

"We do have a military. The country has fought off invading alien armies in the past."

"That maybe so, but I doubt these fools will see the danger coming until it's too late." The pair flies until they reach the Planet Express building. Leela lands atop the circular tower. Leela powers herself, gathering energy from her immediate surroundings. Meanwhile, Hiei lands on the hanger doors, charging himself up while scouring the harbor for the foreboding demon.

"Hey Leela, there you are," spots Fry, leaning his head out of the Observation Tower, "The Professor has been looking for you. We've got a package to deliver."

"Get back," she snaps, "get out of the tower at once." Leela focuses her eye on the harbor, waiting for the creature to emerge. "Hiei, there it is," she shouts, "It's in the water, coming at us." "Fry get back downstairs, unless you want to become food."

Suddenly a tentacle shoots out of the water towards Leela. Quickly she blasts the arm to pieces, just to see it reform and smash into the tower. She hears Fry scream and sees him being yanked out. She sees the demon emerge from the water, appearing as an enormous red and black octopus. Fry shrieks and tries to free himself from its grasp. It submerges again, dragging Fry into the water with it. Leela flies down after it, smashing the tentacle against the harbor floor with her foot. Quickly she grabs Fry and zips back to the tower. She quickly flies down stairs to the lounge. She immediately spots Amy and Hermes.

"What's going on? Why are you and Fry soaking wet?" asks Hermes.

"No time to explain. Is everyone here at the building?" Leela pants hastily.

"Yes, except Cubert is at my wife's house with our son. Both have the stomach flu."

"That's fine, at least they're safe for now. But you take Fry and ask everyone to head quickly to the sub-basement. Don't argue, just move." Leela quickly juts away and heads back outside.

She catches Hiei in the water, slicing at the monster with blinding speed. Leela quickly dives at the creature, sending a massive spirit ball its way. The spirit ball blows open one of the eyes on the creature's face, exposing the brain. It reacts in pain and reaches one of its tentacles her way, but she quickly dodges it and charges into the water. She follows the trail of blood leading to its body. Leela circumvents the beast's body with lightning speed and creates a wall of water around it, opening up a dry patch around its body and exposing the harbor floor to the air. Hiei seizes the opportunity and zips around the body of the octopus, dicing its body to pieces. Leela sees the pieces heading towards the brain of the creature. She zips in and grabs the brain. She forms a 150-volt charge of spirit and kinetic energy around the brain, surrounding it in kinetic force field. She allows the energy to draw into the quickly into the brain like dynamite and explode the brain.

The shockwave from the blast rockets Leela towards the Planet Express wall. She nearly smashes against it when she's whisked away in Hiei's arms. She falls limp in his arms as he carries her to the balcony. He rushes her inside to the lounge and lays her on the couch. Quickly he sees her lips turning blue. He breathes into her mouth and pumps on her diaphragm, trying to expel air. "Come on, Leela. Come back to me." He breathes into her again and tries to listen for her return breaths. He pumps her diaphragm again. Finally, her eye twitches and she gurgles up water and spits at him. She starts coughing violently, automatically sitting up. She hyperventilates for a few minutes, trying to catch her breath.

At last, Leela calms herself and breathes normally, as she lies back on the couch and closes her eye. Hiei kneels on the floor beside her, smoothing her face gently with his hand. He notices her shivering from her wet body and clothes. He lets out a teaspoon amount of energy and touches his hands to the skin on her torso. Her body becomes instantly warm by his touch. Leela stirs and opens her eye. "Welcome back, princess. How are you feeling?"

"Better, I suppose. What happened? Is it destroyed?"

"You must have blacked out when you exploded its brain. Then you were losing air. I was so afraid I was going to lose you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily. Especially after, I promised Mukuro I'd stay with you." "I want to ax you something. How did you revive me? Did you use spirit powers?"

"Nope," he smiles at her in a soothing voice, "guess again."

"Did you wish me back with some lamp you've got stashed in that body cape of yours?"

"Yeah right, do I look like Aladdin?"

"Was it like the Life Energy you gave to me in Spirit World?"

"Something like that, but you're not going to throw up from it." His faces draw closer to hers.

"Better demonstrate it to me so I can save your life someday."

"Too late, Leela. You're saving my life right now." His lips lock on hers.

About half way through the kiss, Leela feels droplets of tears splashing on her face. She opens her eye to see her beloved jerk his face away. "Go to her, Hiei. Why don't you spend the night with Mukuro? I know how much her death hurt you, and now you're relieved to know she's alive again."

"I just don't want to leave you. I feel if I go to Mukuro, I'll be betraying you. You almost died on me. I don't want you to die, Leela."

Leela sits up and embraces him in her arms. "Just go to her. I'll be fine. You need her right now. Besides we're leaving tomorrow for Demon World. I just hate to see you hurting like this. Crying just doesn't suit a tough bastard like you. Mukuro is right about that."

"But I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to think I'm cheating on you."

"The way you're crying now is hurting me. You aren't thinking about cheating. I can tell that from the way you're refusing my request. If anything, you're cheating yourself."

"You're just like Mukuro. I couldn't win against her and so far you're hard to beat." Hiei closes his eyes with a half-hearted smile on his face.

Leela sighs deeply as she flips on the TV set. "Welcome all you puny human scum. This is Morbo with the 5:00 news."

"Who's this ugly jerk? How dare he rope me in with you humans!"

"Hiei, would you calm down? That's just our news anchorman. He's always like that."

"Yeah and I am Diane. Top story, tomorrow night marks the 1000th year anniversary of the explosion that took out Tokyo Dome."

Morbo reports, "Exactly 1000 years ago, a concert was held at this disgusting human arena. The band Linkin Park was performing when a giant explosion literally rocked the stadium. I'm sitting here with Mike Shinoda's head to tell us what happened."

"It was a tragic scene. We had just completed 'In the End' when the dome collapsed from what seemed to be a bomb explosion. Several fans were severely injured, many killed. Rob Bourdon was killed in the attack."

"What? Of all the places, what filthy scum destroyed Tokyo Dome?" Leela startles in shock.

"Hn, what do I care what happens to that human arena?"

"Hiei, how can you be so heartless?" she screams at him, "So many people died in the blast."

Leela turns to wristband for further information on the story. "It seems Mr. Shinoda was telling the truth." Leela searches for the names of the injured and deceased. Suddenly Leela's face becomes frozen in shock. "H…Hiei, we need to leave, now."

"Why what happened?"

"The news says a doctor was in the crowd. H…he was killed."

"So, there are a bunch of doctors in Tokyo. Not like the death of one bothers me." Leela's eye starts welling with tears.

She programs her wristband and orders her car to arrive at Planet Express, immediately. "We're going home now. His life is in danger."

"Who that doctor's? But he's just a human doctor."

"Hiei, I wasn't going to tell you this with you this upset about Mukuro," Leela listens to her wristband for her car's arrival. "The name was Minamino. He was one of the victims."

"What? But why? That's impossible. No, I won't believe it. He's too smart to be killed. Kurama can't die. I've known him forever."

Leela looks out the window to the sidewalk below. "He's not a god. Kurama's going to die. See for yourself." Leela opens a huge holographic image to Hiei. She displays an obituary column dedicated to Dr. Shuichii Minamino.

"But that's impossible! How can this happen? First Mukuro dies, now Kurama? Who's next?"

"That's why we have to leave now. My car is already here." Leela opens the window and leaps quickly to the ground beside the driver-side door. Hiei follows her and lands near the passenger side. Leela glances at the backseat to see Nibbler asleep.

"I see he's decided to come," Hiei sighs.

"It's a good idea, too. This car is fueled by dark matter. He creates the dark matter in his poop." Leela quickly pops open the doors and slides into the driver's seat. She watches Hiei slip in on the passenger's side. She sees his eyes droop, staring at the floorboard.

"Are you all right? I know I shouldn't ax under the circumstances." Leela releases the flux-capacitor from her wristband and slides it into a slot in the dashboard.

"I feel like someone has it out for my friends and me. What's the point in taking people I care about the most away from me? I want to kill whoever is behind this. Why? Why did Mukuro have to die? Why does Kurama have to now? Doesn't make sense? Is King Yama some how punishing us like this?" Leela rubs her hand across his back in a circular motion.

"That's why we're leaving now. Maybe we can alert him to the danger. The future isn't set in stone. Maybe he can still be saved." Leela sets the speed for 90 mph and destination for Tokyo, Japan, 07:04:07, 5:00 PM. Almost immediately, the car zips off and blasts through the temporary wormhole.

"I don't what I'd do if he died. Kurama's like a brother to me. No way would I let him die. He just can't die." Leela flies the car until she reaches the curb just in front of the Minaminos' house. She parks the car and powers the engine down.

Leela turns in her seat and caresses him in her arms. "He won't die. I'm not going to let that happen, either. I'll even find the bomb before it blows up." 'Although, I don't know if that's how he died or if it happened afterwards.'

Leela quickly removes the flux-capacitor from the dashboard and returns it to the wristband. Leela glances at the front door. She watches Saito race outside with a black-haired boy. Leela catches Shizuru poke her head out after the two boys. "Saito, don't stray too far. Dinner's almost ready." Leela pops open the doors and emerges from the car.

"Sure thing, Mom," Leela hears Saito holler back.

Shizuru catches Leela's eye and walks out to the silver streamline car. She studies the car's design and tries to find the wheels. "Leela, surprised to see you out here. What is the deal with this car?"

"What do you mean? It's just my hover car."

"Hover car? That would explain the missing wheels. Hiei, nice to see you here as well."

"Yeah, whatever," he sighs in a dreary tone.

"What's the matter with him?"

Leela sighs, "There's just news from tomorrow that is tragic. It's why we came back."

"Came back? From where?"

"We were home in New New York. I flipped on the evening news…there's going to be something happening to Tokyo Dome. Is Kurama home?"

"Not yet, he's got a meeting right now at the hospital. One of the doctors is retiring from practice and they're throwing him a retirement party next week. He should be home soon though. It's curry-rice night tonight. He never misses that. You're welcome to join us if you like."

"You're too kind," smiles Leela. She watches Shizuru's eyes gaze at Nibbler stirring in the back seat. He immediately smells the food and breaks free from the car, only to be caught by Leela. "She didn't mean for you to be rude."

Nibbler struggles to free himself from her grasp, only to be glared at by Hiei. Nibbler whines in disappointment and crawls into Leela's arms, griping to himself. "I have your dinner, Nibbler."

"What is that thing? He looks like a lower-class apparition, but I sense a mid-level B-class power coming from him."

Nibbler sniffs at Shizuru with caution, nipping at her open hand reaching out to him. "This is Nibbler. He's a Neptcronian. I found him on a planet that exploded." Nibbler screeches and whistles at Leela. "I know you're hungry." Leela turns towards the back seat and searches the car. "I thought I had put a few jars of…ah here we are." Leela grabs a jar of shrunken buggalo. She retreats from the car and programs the doors to latch shut behind her.

"Are these things alive?" asks Hiei with a grimace on his face. He peers into the jar and hears a tiny moo.

"Of course it's alive. Nibbler loves eating living animals whole. This jar is like a miniature farm where the buggalo graze. When I remove one of these buggalo from the jar and add water, it will grow to normal size."

"What size is normal for bugs from your era?" asks Shizuru.

"Just under five feet." Leela sniffs the air. "Your food smells good, but maybe we'd better get inside before it's burnt."

"That's amazing how you can read someone's mind, Leela," Shizuru smiles as she walks with Leela and Hiei into the house. Leela removes her boots at the entryway. Hiei does the same with his shoes and enters the house with her. Both are offered a seat on the couch in the living room.

"Nibbler, no. You behave yourself here. This is not your house or Planet Express."

"You know, Keiko would love him. She used to take care of Puu like he was her pet."

"Is she coming tonight?" asks Leela.

"Both she and Yusuke are. This is our big card night."

"That buffoon is coming? Better hide your car, Leela. That's all he'll be looking at. Futuristic crap is his weakness. Knowing him, he'll want to bet you for it."

"Yusuke can bet all he wants, that car won't make itself easy to drive. It's programmed to be driven by the owner, and that's me." Leela pauses to hear the sound of a truck door slam shut.

'What should I say to him?' Leela asks in thought to Hiei.

'Easing Kurama into the truth works best, but be honest with him. Let him see the article as well with his own eyes. He's smart. He'll figure a way out of the problem. I just don't see a tough guy like him dying so easily.'

Leela thoughts are interrupted by Sakura storming into the living room, carrying a naked blonde Barbie Doll by its hair. Sakura is followed close behind by a little black-haired girl about her age. Sakura approaches Shizuru with a stern teary look on her face.

"Mommy, Sayaka is being mean."

"I am not," retorts Sayaka, holding a naked black-haired doll around its waist, "I asked you if I could dress Mimi in the red kimono. You said sure."

"I thought you meant the one with the butterflies. The one with the birdies is Kia's. Kia wants her kimono for the festival," pouts Sakura.

Shizuru rolls her eyes and looks at Leela with a half-hearted laugh. She looks back at her daughter and sighs, "If you two don't stop fighting, I'm taking both kimonos away and splitting you two in separate corners until Mrs. Kowari comes back and takes Sayaka home."

"But Kia needs her kimono for the festival. She wants to look pretty for Jasper."

"Sakura! That's Mimi's boyfriend, not Kia's. Kia can have Sora."

"But Sora's got black hair and Kia hates him," Sakura growls at Sayaka, making her tail stand up, "How dare you let Mimi come between Kia and Jasper!" Sakura glares at Sayaka and bares her teeth.

"Sakura, what did I say about baring your fangs at humans? I think it's time for a timeout. Sakura, go to your room. Sayaka, stay out here in the main room and sit in the corner beside the couch."

Kurama opens the door and sees Sakura start to run to him. "Sakura, what did I tell?" retorts her mother.

"But Daddy's home…"

"Sakura, go to your room now before I spank you."

"It's not fair," Sakura mumbles to herself, "Sayaka gets to stay out here. This is all her fault. This is stupid." Sakura drags her feet across the carpet, walking at a snail's pace towards the hallway.

"Are they at it again, Shizuru?" Kurama asks trying not to laugh.

"All day long. Sakura's been griping at everything Sayaka does. I've just about had enough." Shizuru rubs her face and looks at Leela. "Leela. Hiei. Sorry about the girls fighting in front of you. I'm trying to break the kids of the habit of fighting with guests here."

"Oh you two are here? I was wondering whose car that was outside. My guess it had to be Leela's, seeing how I've never seen that strange model before. I was trying to find the wheels."

"It's my hover-car from home. I've had it for four years. Bought it brand new off the lot."

"No wonder I've never seen that model before. It hasn't been built yet. What year did the hover-car come out?" asks Kurama.

"2801. Harold Ford invented it." "Nibbler, no."

"Is dinner ready? I've been smelling it on my way home tonight."

"It's ready. Hey, Sayaka, your mom's here," Shizuru announces, watching a periwinkle Hyundai pull into the driveway behind Kurama's truck. She sees Saito and his friend march up to the door.

"Hey Mom, can Akira spend the night?"

"What's my rule about school nights?"

"Ah man! But Akira's mom lets me spend the night."

"Hey Sport, don't you remember what we're doing tomorrow night? We're going to that rock concert. I bought the tickets last month. Akira can tag along." Leela's eye opens wide, as she listens to his words.

"You don't have to go to this concert," replies Leela.

"Are you kidding? I have to go. This is the first Linkin Park concert in Tokyo Dome and I've been waiting since February to see it."

"Please don't go to it. It's not worth it. The band is terrible."

"What? Leela, when I told you I bought the tickets back in June, you were ecstatic. Come on, I'm dying to see this band in person, I can't wait."

"Please don't use that phrase in front of me. I can't bear it." Leela clenches her eye shut, trying to keep her tears suppressed. She bolts from the couch and races down the hallway into the first bathroom.

Kurama glances at Hiei with a puzzled look on his face. "You guys didn't just come by for a visit. What's going on? Why is she acting like that?"

"We saw something in the 31st century you're not going to like. You might want to reconsider going to that concert tomorrow."

Shizuru walks in the bathroom and sees Leela sitting on the lid of the toilet, sobbing into her hands. Immediately Shizuru walks over to her and kneels on the tiled floor in front of her. "Leela, what's the matter? Is it something about Tokyo Dome?"

"There's going to be a bomb at the concert. It's going to destroy the building. So many are going to die from it."

"A bomb at the Dome? For real? Is that why you tried to convince my husband not to go? He's got a good nose and never totally unalert. Whenever places like the Dome are packed with human audiences, it always offers a huge buffet for human-hunting demons. He's not the only one of us going tomorrow night. Yusuke's going to the concert with a few of his teacher buddies. Keiko's already got a cab reserved for them because those morons love to get wasted."

"He's going to die."

"Who's dying?"

"Kurama. His name was among the list of the deceased."

"That's impossible. He's a strong demon. He can't die so easily."

"His name appears in Saturday's obituary column. There's a whole article dedicated to him." Leela presses the keypad on her wristband and projects the article against the air, showing it to Shizuru.

"I guess I can't take a future girl's words lightly. You'll have to show this to him."

"When should I do that?"

"Perhaps after dinner during the card game. That way Yusuke can be informed as well. Maybe we can form a strategy. I've learned from watching those two, the future is never set in stone. I have to admit though; I did feel ill at ease about this concert tomorrow night. Your warning has fueled my suspicions."

"I just don't want any more suffering from watching friends die. Hiei's already had his heart broken by Mukuro's death. He's still mourning for her. I don't want him to lose more friends. He's been through too much pain as it is."

Shizuru helps Leela to stand up and holds her in her arms. Leela feels Kurama's presence in the doorway. "How long were you standing there?" Leela asks with a quivering voice.

He walks towards her, "Long enough. I figured something was up by the way you were acting. As usual, I couldn't get a straight answer from Hiei. When he clams up and refuses to talk, most likely it means something is wrong. I also noticed that pet of yours nudging him and looking at him with a sad expression on its face."

"Nibbler's like that. He's sympathizing with Hiei. He does that with me as well. Whenever I'm sad, he tries to comfort me. Sometimes he gives me little hugs. Nibbler's got good reason to sympathize. The article for Saturday says you're going to die in the explosion. I don't want you to die; I like you too much." Kurama stands in front of her and holds her in his arms.

"It's okay," he whispers to her. "Leela, thank you for the information. At least now I know someone's going to terrorize the Dome. I had my suspicions when I purchased the tickets. I had asked for the middle section, but the seller insisted I take the front row. In fact he almost required it."

"And you're still going to the concert, despite the threat?"

"I want to find out who or what is behind this bomb. Maybe we can get to the bomb and disarm it, or at least take the mastermind away from the Dome before he hurts innocent people."

"Aren't you scared of getting killed? My newspaper for Saturday still says you'll die tomorrow in the blast. If I was given a glimpse like that into the immediate future, I'd want to seek safety somewhere."

"Leela, you've got to understand this about me, I've had near-death experiences my whole life. One time, I almost died from a tournament battle against a guy who used demon bombs. They surrounded my body and exploded with every move I made. After the fight, I was for certain I was dead and prepared to accept it. That was 14 years ago. To this day, I still can't figure out how I survived that."

"Still, I just want you to be careful. I don't want you to die and leave us behind. Hiei's still suffering from Mukuro's death. Earlier today, we were shopping at Macy's in my era, and he broke down while looking at a crib in the Infants' and Children's Department. I came up there just in time to catch him crying. He's been through too much pain in his life. He feels like he's being punished somehow. I don't want to see him sad anymore. I want him to be happy. Losing people he cares for is…it breaks my heart to watch him suffer. He doesn't deserve this; he's too good of a person to have such a horrible misfortune."

"I understand it hurts. I know he's hurting, from the look on his face. Usually, the man is full of words, but now it seems like I'm talking to an empty seashell. I know it hurts you as well." He smirks at Leela for a couple seconds. "Whenever you're like this, worrying about Hiei's feelings and the safety of his friends, you remind me a great deal of Shiz. She's like that all the time, able to read my mind and be able to tell what I'm thinking and feeling, even long before I do."

"I just love him too much," Leela pulls away and sees Nibbler scurrying towards her. He flings himself at her and climbs around her shoulders. "What's the matter, Nibbler? Last time I saw you, you were asleep on Hiei's lap." Nibbler chirps and hugs her chest. "Aw, you knew I was upset and you came to comfort me." She walks out of the bathroom with Nibbler on her shoulders. She walks towards the table in the main room and sees Keiko sitting in one of the chairs.

"It's you," chimes Leela, "When did you guys come in?"

"Oh hey, Leela, glad to see you here. I came in two minutes ago. But, you'd better go outside and grab Yusuke away from that weird car out front."

Leela nods and walks outside to the curb, where her car is parked, to see Yusuke staring through the passenger's side window, inspecting the interior with his eyes. She sneaks up behind him and leans over behind him. "Found your next girlfriend?"

He turns to Leela with a jolt. "What the… Leela? I guess this is your car. Where did it come from?"

"Hiei and I were home in my era. Fry came here to take me back to New New York."

"You were in the future? Neat. Bet he liked that."

"We saw Mukuro again. She was at the zoo in a very beautiful tiger body."

"Oh then that really was a good thing you guys were in the future. Why in a zoo though?"

"Didn't ax her that. The question never came up. He was missing her so bad that…it's just hard to see him so down and depressed. One of my friends, Amy, said Mukuro was at the zoo and I rushed him over to her cage."

"You're a good woman for him. It's nice how he's finally got someone to treat his wounded heart." "So, huh you've got a neat looking car. How does it move without any wheels? Where are the wheels anyways?"

"It's a hover-car. There are no wheels. It simply flies."

"A flying car? I've heard of those. Some rich inventors are working on some. I've heard about that on the news. But don't you have to have a gazillion bucks just to own one?"

"Nope. You see, from my era hover-cars are commonplace. Almost everybody has one. I've had it for four years, 3003 model Silver-Bullet Honda. It's fueled by dark matter and can top out 200 mph. It can travel over land and water. I can take you to anywhere in the world you want."

"Anywhere? Can it travel between worlds?"

"I suppose it can. I was planning to take it to Spirit World tomorrow morning. Maybe take Botan out for breakfast."

"Yeah, and for once, you get to do the flying. I'm still uncomfortable about anyone taking that oar with her. Her skills can still stand some work. You know what I'd like to see, you scare Koenma with a sudden visit."


	18. Chapter 18

Out of a flash, Nibbler dashes out of the house, shrieking with his tongue dangling, and leaps onto Leela's shoulders. Yusuke becomes intrigued by the strange little black alien.

"What is that thing? Friend of yours?"

"Yeah. Nibbler what happened to you? Last time I saw you, you were sleeping in Hiei's lap." Nibbler screeches and rolls out his tongue and winces in pain.

"I know that look. Someone gave him curry. Megumi's trying to get into eating curry, but that's the same look she gets. It takes some getting used to. Keiko's even tried to get Yoshi to taste some, but he cries every time."

While Nibbler continues to complain to Leela, she catches the thoughts of Shizuru in her mind and nods her head. "I guess it's time to eat. Nibbler, she's got milder food too."

"He's joining us for dinner?" asks Yusuke, following Leela into the house.

"Of course. Can't very well exclude Nibbler. Nibbler, you know how spicy the food is. I'd advice you not to eat real fast."

"That's right, unless you want a hole in your guts. Say, Leela, are you able to eat with chopsticks? Is he able to as well? I'm asking because it can be difficult if you've used a fork all your life."

"It's not a big deal. I've learned how to use various eating utensils. Besides I didn't have problems the first night I was here in your era."

"Ah, at the Ramen shop in Mukuro City. Your first date with…"

"It wasn't a date, just I was hungry and so was he. I didn't know anybody other than Hiei, and he's a nice guy."

"I still can't believe a guy like him would be described as nice. Especially by a pretty thing like you, Leela."

"Why thank you, Yusuke, but you sell him too short. Look, when I came here, I was by myself. I came here by mistake. It was Fry's car. He was supposed to come here, not me. I thought he was someone from Triclopicous 9 that I knew, McLark."

"There are aliens that look like Hiei? How interesting. Where is Triclopsico…? Is it somewhere around here? What sorts of aliens live there?"

"It's not too far from here, actually. Only 100 light years from here. It's still in the Milky Way. The people look like us, except they've got three eyes on their face. McLark Trilo is about as tall as Hiei and has long spiky black hair with a white streak. He loves dressing in black; he thinks it makes him look mysterious. He took second place in the Space Olympics in track. After the Olympics, Fry, Bender and I followed him to his planet. The planet looks very much like Demon World."

"That's why you weren't scared of Hiei then. You thought he was this McLark guy. So Demon World doesn't really scare you? You're human but you're not afraid of demons? Even I get scared of them sometimes."

"What is a demon anyways? Why do they differ from humans? Koenma told me they live longer than humans."

Leela is shown a seat beside Hiei, at the table. "Koenma told you demons live longer than humans, and nothing more? Idiot. It figures he'd keep the truth from you," buts in Hiei in the conversation, "Demons are supernatural beings that exist far beyond human limitations. Longevity is not the only thing about demons, and that dumbass knows it."

"I figured there was more to that. If it was just age not being a factor, there are plenty of aliens and mutants that live without that limitation. That wouldn't be enough to convince me. What else is different between demons and mortal aliens, or even mutants like me?"

"Well what sort of things do aliens and mutants do in your time, Leela?" asks Kurama, "Do they fly by themselves?"

"Some do, actually. Although flying in a spacecraft or car is much faster and saves on energy, some aliens have developed wings to fly. Although in a city as huge as New New York, some citizens feel it's a waste of energy and ride in tubes. However in sports events, we do have flying as part of a sport. The Space Olympics has several entries in aerial events."

"Tubes? Is that what I saw all over town? Those huge hollow things zigzagging everywhere?" asks Hiei.

"Those are space tubes. It's sort of like in this era; you have the subways in places like here in Tokyo and in Old New York to get around."

"I've ridden in your subways, Leela. That's an easy, but confusing way to travel. Almost made the mistake of going to the Bronx. That was until one of my colleagues talked me out of it," Kurama sighs.

Leela looks at him with her eye wide open and laughs at him. "You almost went to the Bronx? And here you guys say Demon World is scary. Don't ever go to the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Coney Island. That would be suicide on your part."

"Well okay, but getting back to comparison, what do a lot of aliens do for food? Do they eat humans?"

"Yes, that's one of the delicacies. Keep in mind; there are so many races of aliens that use Earth as sort of a Mecca. Some folks have a taste for the host planets inhabitants. Why else do you think cloning is in such high demands? Now I've not been cloned, but the Professor has a clone of himself. Mostly to take over for him after he dies, but also incase he becomes a menu for some hungry alien or mutant. Fry got cloned last year during the war between Earth and the Space Pigs. He nearly got himself killed and eaten by a pig."

"Wait that was a clone of Fry that we found in Demon World?"

"No, his clone is still in a test tube in an embryonic state. It's for incase he dies. Almost like an insurance policy."

"I still like that technology of cloning and cryogenics. Certainly would make the life of a doctor easier. Prolonging the lives of patients is a dream. But at times I feel like I'm playing God and trying to do too much."

"At least you know what you're doing, Kurama. Maybe you can pass on your knowledge to Dr. Zoidberg. Half the time, he barely knows how to heal someone and ends up almost killing a patient. And he only knows fish antinomy, not human."

"Oh yeah, isn't he that lobster demon from your era? You introduced me to him yesterday."

"Yes, but he's not a demon. Just an alien sea creature." Leela clicks to his picture on her wristband and shows Zoidberg's holograph to the group.

"Interesting lobster-creature he must be. Looks like a demon still. In fact he looks just like one of the demons I blasted last week after school."

"Clatra was nothing like this guy from Leela's era, Yusuke. For one thing, Clatra was a strong B-class demon that was trying to consume one of your students. He cornered her and threatening to eat her alive, when you stopped him."

"Yeah, so what makes this Zoidberg fellow different?"

"Zoidberg is…uh I shouldn't insult him. I barely know the guy."

"Why not, Hiei? He's a coward. Dr. Zoidberg talks big, but is a total wuss in combat. He likes to give orders, when his people are around. But he's more likely to get into mischief and scuttle away when caught in the act."

"Yeah well, the guy I met insulted himself and cried loudly for the insult."

"That's also what Zoidberg does. He's a crybaby."

"So what's this thing with that article of yours? Someone kills me…?"

"What? You're going to die? How? This is the first I've heard of this."

"Would you calm down, Yusuke. It's not like it's the first time I've had death threats against me. At least this time, Leela's given me advanced warning. I had my suspicions when I bought the tickets for the concert. Now I'm preparing to deal with the threat."

"I'm curious though, Kurama. Why would someone go through such elaborate lengths to kill you? By blowing up Tokyo Dome? Wouldn't it be easier to just take you out in battle?" questions Leela.

"I suspect my opponent wants the death to look like a simple terrorist attack. In this time period, Leela, we have a group of individuals who kill by setting bombs in public settings. It's all over the news about this. It wouldn't be unheard of for someone to destroy Tokyo Dome. Apparently my would-be killer knows this and is adjusting his tactics accordingly."

"But why you? What have you done to make somebody want to kill you? Surely there is a motive to this," asks Leela.

"Vengeance, perhaps. Or maybe someone I've pissed off from my past. I've lived for such a long time. After living 1000 years, it's not uncommon for someone to make enemies along the way. However until I see this individual, I really don't know his motives."

"Someone from that long ago is threatening you? That's an awful long time to hold a grudge against anyone," replies Leela, "Even if that was the case, why kill you now when they could have back then?"

"Yeah, she's right. The threat seems like from a more recent event anyways," Shizuru sighs.

"Could it be from that case we had back in May?" Yusuke suggests.

"The Seiichi Case you mean? I was thinking that, maybe someone wanted to avenge the death of the whole family, but this doesn't seem to fit with their pattern of killing. The Saranaskis' mode of killing was through decoys and indirect means. This threat now seems to be coming from someone else who specializes in direct bombing and causing a public scene," ponders Leela.

"So you think the two cases are unrelated? Then what demon do you think is plotting this?" asks Yusuke.

"What makes you so sure it's a demon? Why do you people hold demons on a different standard than humans anyways? Humans can be just as evil and devious as anything supernatural. We cause wars, starvation, pollution, riots, murders, etc. Many times we cause evil acts without care or remorse. We kill each other for religious causes, destroy whole towns, and wipe out a vast number of innocent people. If I'm not mistaken, Yusuke, didn't my country blow up and destroy two of your cities during World War II? That was payback for Japan destroying Pearl Harbor and to end the war once and for all."

"That's true, Leela, and it is possible that this is a human plot," Kurama agrees, "The attacker is specifically attacking the Dome during the night of the concert. Most demons wouldn't care for such human events. The only reason would be for free food. However if they are the demons we're tracking from the wanted list and their under links, they know high spiritually powerful individuals like you, Yusuke, and I will be there on the look out. Plus I know a few other demons attending the concert from that meeting we had with Koenma. I know Arbu, Touya, my brother Ashanti, Rinku, Jin, and Tigrus are going to the concert."

"Also you're not the only fatality. One of the band members gets killed along with a few other members of the audience. I wouldn't put it past the killer to have this be a suicide attack either," informs Leela.

"This is proving to be a tough case. I much rather have to fight a demon than one of my own kind," whines Yusuke.

"I know what you mean, especially for me. It's against Spirit World laws for demons to harm or kill humans. And I was made king after last year's Demon Tournament. I want to kill this guy before he harms anyone, including you. But if he's human, damn it I can't so much lay my sword on him."

"But if he's planning to blow up the Dome, why would getting to him first before he caused harm infringe upon that law of yours? Call it killing out of self-defense," suggests Leela.

"Well I guess, but I'm still fuzzy about who we're up against. He's crafty; I'll give him that. I fear we have little choice in this matter, though. Perhaps we can better understand what's going to happen by showing up at Tokyo Dome promptly. The ticket seller wanted me to buy the tickets for the front row. He was insistent I get a particular seat. I was very suspicious of him then, and now I'm almost certain."

"And you're still going?" asks Keiko.

"To confront this foe, yes. I'm going there tomorrow morning to figure out his plan. By doing that, I'll be able to make my decisions and work through this problem. Leela's wristband has at least given me a time limit to figure this out. I'm on vacation tomorrow anyways."

"Wish I was too, so I can help you, but I've got class tomorrow," grumbles Yusuke, sitting back in his chair while crossing his arms.

"Dear, just use one of your 'Sick Days'. I'll call in a sub tonight when we get home. I'll just say you caught that bug that's been going around the school. Helping Kurama out is more important right now."

"What about that staff meeting tomorrow? I can't break from that."

"Just go on. I'll cover for you. You do what you have to at Tokyo Dome."

"I'm taking Botan out for breakfast tomorrow. I'll fill her in on what's going on. I'm sure Koenma's aware of the events. If not, I'll let him know."

"You can go all the way up to Spirit World now?" asks Keiko.

"Of course. If that car of mine can take me to Pluto and back on just one ball of dark matter, then surely it can take me to Spirit World."

"You've been that far out in space?" asks Yusuke.

"Actually I've been to the edge of the universe. I've also been to other stars and planets too, you know."

"Whoa, now that's awesome! Wish I can go into space."

"Dear, if you can't sit on a roller coaster at Disney World without throwing up, then how do you think you'd be able to make it into a zero-gravity environment?"

"Keiko, he could probably handle it. It's just like a normal car ride. All hover-cars come with artificial gravity. Plus it doesn't matter how fast you go in space, you don't feel g-forces in space, unless you're near a black hole. I'll take you up there someday, if you want. The car seats more people than it looks, plus it extends out. How about on your birthday, Shizuru?"

"Cool, then I can have real bragging rights at the office."

Leela laughs at her and is joined by Kurama.

"Yeah, that would be nice. You're always looking for ways to upstage that Ms. Harro…Karro. You know the front desk clerk."

"Oh yeah," Shizuru sneers, "Asuka Kutaro is always going on these trips to Hawaii or Paris or Cancun or wherever. She's always coming back with an album of pictures from where she's been. I'll bet she's never seen photos of Mars or Saturn up close."

"I'll take you to my era. I've got discounts all over the galaxy anyways. Plus the Slurm Planet owes me one."

"I've been curious about the future ever since you came here back in May. I would love to see what it looks like," Yusuke comments.

"I've been to her time, and I'm still interested in seeing it."

"One rule, guys. If I take you and you see anyone strange that looks like a demon you fought, don't kill them. Think of it as your vacation from killing demons."

"Yeah, Yusuke, because where she's from, it really is rude for you to point," laughs Kurama.

"Oh, shut up. Besides I can tell when someone is spiritually weak."

"I can sense it too and the majority of the humans, mutants, and aliens are spiritually weak. It would be like you wasting your spirit gun on a common housefly. And most robots are just pathetic, although they try to all powerful."

"Right, like your robot friend, Bender. He wanted to outdo my powers, I think, or at least be trained by me."

"That'll be the day, as soon as he can manage to fight on his own, too. His problem is he too much of a coward to stand on his own. He can't even handle a simple war."

"What about Fry? Is he capable of fighting?" asks Yusuke.

"He is okay at fighting, he can get tough, but…"

"The way Leela describes Fry is like he's an American version of Kazuma. You know, simple-minded," Shizuru comments.

"That's Fry for you. Tough fighter, eager to learn, thirsty for love, and yet a world class dumbass," Leela sighs.

"Yeah, I'm surprised Fry-san and your brother aren't related somehow. They even sort of look alike. Both have that orange-red hair, slender bodies, about the same height. The only thing Fry lacks is muscles. And plus their brains are small," replies Hiei, "Hey wait, you forgot someone, Leela."

"Oh yeah, him," Leela sighs, as she leans forward and plants her elbow on the table. She covers her eye with her hand.

"What's the matter, Leela?" asks Keiko.

"Fry is not as bad as all that. There is one guy I had the misfortune of sleeping with. One little lapse of judgment, on the Nimbus, was all it took to have Zapp obsess about me. Zapp Branaggan worse than Fry, ugly too. He's supposed to be the Supreme Space Captain, Earth's hero commander. But he's an apish pig and a world-class buffoon. And everytime he sees me, he's filled with sexual innuendos."

"Yusuke, that's one of the 'houseflies' Leela was talking about. It'd be a waste of spirit energy to fight that guy. He wanted to challenge me into a fight, but that would be a waste of time. I certainly wasn't in the mood to fight such a bore. Besides he's got the speed and wits of a slug. And no spirit energy at all."

"Like I said, you come to my era, and it'll be like a spirit-energy free vacation."

"Well this week is the last school week for a while. For the next six weeks, school is out," informs Keiko.

"And I've got vacation time starting tomorrow, that'll last for the next three weeks," informs Kurama.

"I'm taking a break, too. My last clients are scheduled for this Friday, and then I'm off for the rest of the summer. Might as well enjoy myself somewhere fun and far from here."

Leela smiles at the idea, but then shakes her head, "Wait, you want to see my era that bad? What about that threat on your life, Kurama? The newspaper still says you die tomorrow night."

"I know, but I'm not worried about that. Besides, whoever's doing this will probably not rest until his goal is accomplished. What good will his plans be if we're vacationing in your future world? At least there, we can see what the big picture was and stop it. Maybe if I have advanced knowledge myself and saw what he caused, we can go back to this era and stop him. Right now, I don't know if I can solve a puzzle this complex. Plus there are pieces missing."

"Yeah, and I've had it. All this brain-rattling is exhausting," Hiei yawns.

"You want to head back to the tower? I'll fly you. And it looks like Nibbler's had a long day too." Leela sees Nibbler curled up on her lap, asleep.

"I can tell he's tired. Usually he's about as wound up as a Jack-in-the-Box."


	19. Chapter 19

Leela stands and offers to help Shizuru clean up dishes. She is insisted to go on and take her two tired men back to the tower for the night. Leela escorts both Hiei and Nibbler into her car and latches the doors tight.

"What's the matter, Leela? You look guilty about something."

"I just don't feel good about Kurama's over-confidence. What if he can't figure this out at all? I just don't want him to die."

"He's not going to die. The man's been through shit like this. I can't tell you how many times he's come close to dying. He even did it once. It was only for ten minutes, but he has died. How he got his human appearance was from a fatal wound. Instead of dying altogether, he escaped into the Human World and came upon a human woman. She bore him as her son. That's why he looks the way he does and feels the way he does about humans. He lives here and prefers to stay. He also made a pact with Koenma and King Yama. He was to live in the human form until Shizuru gets old and dies from her age. When that happens, there is an angel spirit in her body that's eternal. What you probably saw on your wristband was a cover."

"That was a trick? But why? It's an entire obituary column about him. Are you saying that's staged?"

"I'll bet he put the article in the paper himself. It was probably put there to fool people into thinking he was dead, especially to fool the enemy. It's just how his mind works. This is the nature of a fox demon. One of a foxes favorite things to do is to trick and deceive others. Keep in mind; he's an expert at hard puzzles with missing pieces. He's been around for the last millennium, perfecting his smarts and skills."

Leela shakes her head and gazes out the front glass of the car. She pulls the car to the side of a road. She closes her eye and sighs with tears in her breath. "How can you just have that much assurance in a person? I just don't want anything bad to happen. You still sound over-confident of him. I just envision this not going your way and he pays for it with his life. He's such a sweet guy, great family man, and I just don't want him to…"

Leela leans forward, folding her arms on the steering wheel. Hiei stretches his arm around her back to her shoulder. He pulls her off the wheel and caresses her in his arms. "Hey, come on. It's going to be okay. I've just known Kurama forever. He wouldn't just die and leave his family. He's a good husband for Shizuru and a great father to Saito and Sakura. Besides the guy isn't breakable. He's been through so much hell, that it would leave a sumo wrestler dead."

Leela pulls away his arms slowly and returns to her position. She hovers her car off the ground and resumes her flight. "I just don't want him to get hurt. He's just like Fry at heart. Really gentle, sweet guy."

"Leela, you've got to understand why humans and demons are different. Demons are immortal. We don't die so easily as a weak mortal. Right now, Kurama and I are upper B-class demons, nearing A. Sometimes we can even increase the level to S, which is the highest level of power, as the need arises. That means it takes quite a lot to kill a demon that strong, nearly impossible. I felt his level increase to A-plus when you shared that news article with him. Yusuke himself is a demon, nearing S-class levels. The real thing about demons is the level of strength within each individual. The demonic troublemakers we're hunting are lower B through Zenith class. This group is weak in nature and are slower in the mind."

"I hate to bring up this thought, knowing it's still sore for you, but wasn't Mukuro a powerful demon? Why did she die?"

"She was very powerful, at S-class levels. But just because you are immortal, that doesn't mean you don't succumb to death at all. I think Mukuro wanted to die. Her life has been nothing but painful. For one thing, the left half of her body was cybernetic, her face was deformed, most of her insides were literally ripped to pieces, and even when I was with her for the past ten years, I could tell she was in sheer pain. Imagine having to live for a millennium with a tumor that refused to heal. I don't know how she survived through all that. I know if I were in pain for even one hundred years, I'd commit hara-kiri."

"Didn't we find out she was poisoned by Seiichi?"

"I wouldn't put it past her to have asked him for the poison. She knew she had enough with her life, and this pregnancy was her way of giving me a piece of herself in the form of a child, before passing on. My guess is she was waiting for someone to come along to fill her place, someone young and full of life. She wanted me to find someone new, I guess."

"Then I showed up from out of nowhere. But how would she have known I would do that? That was spontaneous and an accident. I've got a bad impulsive habit."

"I doubt it was an accident. From what you've told me about your home era, I think you were unhappy there. People distrusted you because of your face and couldn't see you for the person you are because of that. Even your co-workers didn't accept you at first. Maybe you think it was a mistake, but King Yama doesn't believe in mistakes and neither do I. Things happen for a reason. There's always a reason for something, even if you yourself can't see it. You were called to come here. Why else have you taken so long to go back to the year 3000? From what I can tell, you could have done that a longtime ago with that car, which is still stuck in the forest here in Demon World. My guess is you lied about the car being totaled."

"You really think it was my intention to come here? Fry was supposed to have taken the car, not me. He would come back to his own time period. This time is his era, not mine."

"I know it was designed for him to come here. Your professor guy wants what's best for his kin, but do you honestly think that would be his real wish? When I was there in your time period, I thought he was at home. His destiny was to live in the 31st century. Whether by mortal accident or not, his choice was to stay in that future era. Same goes for you, Leela. This was your destiny to come here. When I saw Fry the other day here, he didn't even get out of the car until you arrived. I doubt he would have lasted two minutes, going up against Seiichi and his family. I know if he was attacked in the Chem. Lab by Seiichi's son and daughter-in-law, he would have perished."

"Well at least Kuwabara would have a brother in common," Leela smirks.

"That's the other thing wrong with Fry coming here instead of you. I can barely handle the one idiot. Two would be too much," Hiei chuckles.

"I didn't tell you this, but I read his mind when I introduced you to my friends. He was thinking you were a weirdo and stupid-looking alien. Sorry if that upsets you."

"Naw, not really. Though I sort of expected he'd say that or think it."

"My guess was he's jealous…" Leela's voice trails to a halt. The normally calm screen of her wristband suddenly flashes red. Quickly, she slows the car and sees ten unfamiliar blips on her GPS. She notices Nibbler stir from his sleep in the backseat. "You sense that?"

"Yes, grr. I don't like this. We're almost to the perimeter of the border."

"It's coming from Genkai's temple. Should we alert your friends?"

"I don't know? This is bad. Usually she can handle demons. Are they at the temple?"

"They're closing in. I've set the coordinates of her location to the car's GPS. Car, get us to that location, now."

"As you command, Leela." Almost instantly, the car jets off towards the temple. Within seconds of her command, the car lands in the main courtyard of the temple grounds.

"Nibbler, stay in the car and don't move until I tell you. These creatures are most likely poisonous and would love eating you instead." Immediately, Leela and Hiei emerge from the car and Leela commands the car to disappear.

She slips into her pocket and pulls out two pairs of night-vision glasses to help her eyes cut through the darkness. She offers Hiei a pair, but he rejects. "I don't need those, my eyes can see just fine in the dark."

Leela feels uneasy in the darkness of the temple grounds. The quiet rustle of the trees causes the hairs on her neck to prickle. A ghastly odor of blood clings to her nostrils. "Maybe we should call the others. This seems a little too intimidating for just us."

"The stench is old. I've smelled it before. This isn't a normal demon. He brought his friends too."

"Leela, Hiei, come inside now."

The two rush in to see the old woman. She is seated in front of the 12-foot-tall Buddha statue, surrounding herself with a spirit barrier. "I sensed you outside. I'm glad you're here. Please come into the barrier."

"What's going on here, Genkai? Why am I smelling the rotten flesh of a dead demon?"

"Is that what it is, Hiei? Something dead?"

"Not something, some things," corrected the old woman, "There were a clan of demons killed here at the temple long ago. It was when my ancestral father was still alive."

"Your father killed it?" asks Leela.

"No, this was back during the Feudal Era. Back before the Kikai Barrier was ever erected and demons came and went as they pleased. There was no border or separate world for demons. My ancestor, Seiki was from a clan of warrior monks, who specialized in slaying demons. Monk Seiki and his men fought off a powerful S-class dragon along with lesser demons in this temple. He lost a great deal of men in that battle."

"I remember seeing that. A huge dragon called Ryuku ruled this plateau. The temple was burning from the searing breath. I watched this monk and his men raise their spirit energy approaching S-class, and still the monks where barely enough to subdue it. At the time that dragon was way out of my league. I was almost killed by his stare alone. I had no choice but to flee and leave it to those humans."

"According to my father, it took everything in Seiki's power to seal its power. Took three demon kings to finally bring it down."

"Three kings? You had three emperors from the demon side? But I thought you only had one."

"Leela, for centuries this land had three S-class demon kings. Mukuro was the king closest to the Demon World border. Our side is vast. It's a second, more powerful dimension of the Earth; it expands the width of Russia and Siberia on the human side; and it's as old as the Earth itself. Demon World consists of three regions. Each king controlled his or her region. Yomi, Raizen, and Mukuro were the three kings. However, each king was at odds with each other. There was one moment in time, during the human world's Warring States era, when all the kings joined forces in order to defeat Ryuku."

"Why do that? I thought most demons detested humans."

"That's true, and it's not as though the kings came together to destroy the dragon out of compassion for Genkai's ancestral father. The dragon posed a threat to all of Demon and Human World. The last thing either side wants is to raise the ire of King Yama in Spirit World. His solution would not only be to kill Ryuku, but also to wipe out all existence in one strike of his power."

"Wait though, isn't he dead?"

"Not completely," sighs Genkai, "He's been sealed in the huge shrine behind the temple."

"Why would it awaken after all this time and come after you? I can read his thoughts like a book. He wants you dead, ma'am."

"Revenge. Ryuku's angry with the monk, Seiki. There was a monk second in command to Seiki called Notaku. He thought he had enough power to seal the dragon alone. At least that's what he told Seiki. Just like my ancestor, Notaku possessed S-class power. However…"

"I still can't believe this. To this day, the very thought of a human monk doing this… I caught this Notaku making a pact with Ryuku. I watched the dragon fly through the valleys on a hunt and snatch up humans, then bring them back to the forest to split the spoils with the monk."

"Are you saying Notaku was a cannibal?"

"Secretly, yes. The monk was savoring human meat. But at the time, if he were found out, he would be stained for certain through obligatory seppuku. So he would allow the dragon to hunt and kill prey. Since the country was in constant civil wars and humans were either dead or near dead, the pickings were so easy. It would be nothing for scavengers to feed on the corpses."

"How long did Notaku keep that a secret?" asks Leela.

"Ten years, it was suspected. Seiki discovered his own men being killed by the dragon and thought their deaths were too convenient. He found Notaku eating what looked like roasted pork, but found piles of broken prayer beads and torn sutras among his belongings," informs Genkai, "Broken beads are an indication that a monk was slain. However, there wasn't a body with the beads."

"By eating a powerful monk, Notaku's thinking was it would increase his own power and surpass Seiki. He soon broke away from my ancestor and became a sworn enemy. He dropped his monk status and aligned himself with Ryuku, becoming his partner," explains Genkai.

"There was no way Seiki was going to allow this treason to continue, so with the same power he struck Ryuku with, he turned it on Notaku and waged an all out fight. The winner was Seiki. One of Seiki's powers was sealing energy away from his opponent and absorb it for himself. But there was a problem with that, taking on too much power is like being hit with a lighting bolt at 1000 volts. For demons, it only increases their strength. Humans however have a limit."

"Mukuro told me during the Great War between Seiki and the Dragon that her power, with the combination of Yomi and Raizen's powers, added with the powers of Seiki were enough to finally subdue the dragon and kill his ally, Notaku. However upon his death, Notaku swore against Seiki and the three demon Kings to take their lives and Ryuku sought revenge upon the descendants of Seiki."

"You've kept this shrine secret this whole time, Genkai?" asks Leela.

"The duty of guarding the shrine is to be passed on from each generation. It was Monk Seiko's dying wish. In order to permanently seal the powers he took, he passed it on to a son he had with a princess in the region. Shortly after impregnating her, he killed himself and made his powers enter his unborn son's body. The monks still alive were instructed to take the boy, Tsuko, and educate him in the practice of demon slaying and maintain his father's status. From that time on the power has been passed from parent to child," Genkai pauses and gazes up at the Buddha statue. She sighs heavily, trying to suppress the sadness in her breath.

"What's the matter?" Leela asks in a sympathetic tone.

"I was supposed to provide an heir. I had one, but lost him a long time ago."

"Didn't you pass on your powers to Yusuke? Isn't he going to guard the temple?"

"He was my last resort. I have no heirs, at least not anymore. I didn't tell anyone this, but shortly after the first Dark Tournament, I fell in love with a man from Tokyo. We courted for three years until I became pregnant with his baby."

"Was it that Toguro bastard?"

"No, somebody else. The man I mean was just someone I liked from town. He'd come to the temple every morning to pray. He was a doctor by trade."

"So what happened to the baby?" asks Leela.

"He didn't live for very long. He was born healthy and I was so sure at the time he'd inherit this temple from me and guard the shrine. But he didn't make it past the first year. He developed pneumonia in his lungs around six months and died two months later. I went into depression after his death, as you could imagine. Then if that wasn't enough punishment, I had an infection in my uterus that took my chances of ever conceiving anymore children away."

"After the thought of having a heir take over failed, I dedicated the rest of my life to find someone to take over this area and guard it. There were two disciples strong enough for the role. Both had immense spiritual power. One was a man who resembles Yusuke, but he resorted to betraying the human world in the same way Notaku did. Another powerful person was a woman with the similar spirit of Seiki in her eyes. But she gave up that pursuit for my temple long ago, and is now raising a family. After that I had my doubts about finding the right person to inherit the job of guarding these grounds. Then 14 years ago…"

"You hosted a battle of sorts here to find the man who just happened to be the heir of King Raizen. His power is no where near Raizen's."

"Whom are you taking about? What is this heir you speak of?" Leela asks.

"Yusuke's the heir of Raizen," Hiei informs.

"What that guy? He's a king? How is he a king? He doesn't look like royalty to me. Looks like an ordinary man to me. The same guy who wants to tour my era is a king."

"I know I have a hard time with that notion still, even when I've known that for 13 years, Leela," Hiei shrugs, "He doesn't even have the shrewdness of royalty either. He's way too bold and inexperienced. Plus he lacks subtlety and is a complete nut. But he's also got one-third of Raizen's power and it's enough to subdue most demons. He can raise his level to S-class for a given length of time?"

"Can't you do that too, Hiei?" asks the old woman.

"I can but it still wears me out."

"The dragon isn't the only problem. Notaku is in there with him," Genkai sighs.

"Isn't Notaku dead? Why would that be a problem?" inquires Leela.

"He was entombed in that shrine with the dragon. They're in separate chambers, however the monk's power was such, that he's now undead. Leela, when you arrived here, didn't you sense an odor?"

"I smelled something like a rotting corpse."

"Yeah, and I was smelling the stench of dragon. And I know this area hasn't seen a dragon in centuries."

"Don't you have experience in dealing with dragons, Hiei?" asks Leela, "I asked you a few weeks ago about the tattoo. You said you call upon him to assist you."

"That dragon drains all my energy and strength when I call him out. Again that's the last resort for me. I'm not going to do that here on the human side, especially this close to Tokyo."

"Aren't we far enough away in the wilderness to not effect the big cities?" asks Leela.

"Yes, but the effects from my ultimate power would pull from the surrounding area and would reach all the way into the city. I'm not too interested in seeing the Human World to turn into what it looked like during the Feudal Era, especially in this region. If my dragon and the one you've got sealed fight, I…I just don't want to think of the carnage in the Human World."

"Didn't you fight a dragon yourself?" asks Leela.

"Yes, I've fought several over the years. One I remember was an ice dragon. He was among four demons trying to pass themselves off as the four gods of war. Hardly gods though, weakest demons I've ever seen. Ryuku and Seiryu are nothing alike. Seiryu was at a lower C-class level. Ryuku was a little too much for Mukuro to handle. That's why all the three kings were needed to seal him up."

"Why now? Ryuku and Notaku could have picked anytime to reawake. Why choose now to do so?"

"I suspect it has to do with the death of all three former kings. While all were alive, Ryuku couldn't make his move. The powers from either King was enough to keep him at bay," Genkai informs.

Leela's eye opens wide and she gasps, "I just had a thought. When we came here, wasn't it to warn Kurama of his death tomorrow night?"

"Is that why you're back here? Kurama's going to die?" shrieks Genkai, "Why him though?"

"Well isn't he a powerful demon too?" asks Leela.

"When transformed into his fox form, Youko, he's able to raise his power level to S-class level. Yusuke does that as well, transformed," informs Hiei.

"Wouldn't all that power be enough to suppress Ryuku and Notaku?" Leela wonders.

"It could. Plus, you forgot me, Seiki's descendant. I'm able to raise my powers that high."

"What about Raizen? Isn't he around?"

"No, he's dead. Died of a 700-year starvation. And Yomi is dead as well. He was killed here at this temple in fact," Hiei informs.

"Whoever's behind the bombing tomorrow was making sure you guys wouldn't survive. I think the reason we're at the temple tonight is for the same reason. Someone wants Genkai dead. Perhaps that reason has something to do with the shrine. Is it possible that if all you with immense spirit energy are dead, then…"

"There would be nobody left to protect the shrine. The mastermind wants Ryuku to be unleashed, along with his partner. And fighting the undead is much harder than any living demon," replies Genkai.

"What should we do now? Shouldn't we alert your friends?" Leela asks.

"Yusuke already knows about Ryuku. He wanted to keep things on a low profile. He visits me here everyday. I'll let him know what's going on. I'll tell him your theory, Leela."

"I still don't feel comfortable about going back to the tower tonight. Should we send someone to help you tonight, ma'am? I've got everybody's number on my wristband."

"She's right. What lured us here was the sense of ten demons approaching this place."

"I think that would be wise, since if there should be an attempt on your life."

"Young lady, thanks for your concern, but I can manage ten demons. I sense them too. They're strong, but nowhere near the level of Ryuku. They're barely registering at B-level at all. At least three are a lower D."

"Still it might be a ruse," Leela hesitates.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can stay here if you like, Leela. Maybe having a younger body here would be enough of a deterrent."

"Is your car still here?"

"It is. Seeing that the coast is clear, I'll let Nibbler out. I've got to fill the dark matter tank anyways for tomorrow morning. I'll let him go right in the tank."

"You've got an animal you have crap in your gas tank?" chuckles Genkai.

"He's an alien that I keep as a pet. His waste is dark matter, and in my era it makes for an excellent fuel source. Besides, it's better he goes in the dark matter tank than on the ground. Nibbler's crap weighs 100 tons. The tank handles the weight without problems, but I don't think your beautiful courtyard could."

"Yeah, especially after Shizuru let him try curry," Hiei smirks, "Nibbler's first taste had him spring off my lap and tear off out to the front yard."

"That's the first time I heard you of all people take to any animal just like that. You never liked Puu, but Leela's pet?"

"Well, Nibbler's cute with a killer streak. He's small, but swallows beasts 100-times his size. I just warned him not to eat anything poisonous." Leela scans the outer perimeter of the barrier and dashes out towards the courtyard.

"You've really taken to Leela-san."

"Yeah, I must admit. She's smart, really smart. When it comes to brains, I know Kurama's got real competition. She matches Yusuke's fighting talents; Leela's really a master at martial arts. And for speed, she's as fast as me. She's always up for a challenge."

"And that's who you like in a girl. You think she'd be interested in being a spirit detective?"

"I don't know. She has the requirements and the talents. Maybe. She's visiting Spirit World tomorrow anyways."

"On her own? How is she going to do that?"

"That car of hers flies. She says she's been to Pluto and back in that hover-car. I guess if she can travel that far in less than a day, she should get up to Spirit World without trouble."

"Wow, get real. Not even the NASA shuttles have ever been out that far. The Americans are just trying to figure out how to get to Mars."

"Apparently in her time, Mars has been terra-formed and humans lived on it; spacecrafts from Earth can travel in light-speeds to stars and distant galaxies; and a various number of aliens, mutants, and robots live here on Earth."

Leela walks back into the temple with a duffle bag in her hand and Nibbler around her shoulders. "You've come prepared?" asks Genkai.

"I'll never know when I have to stay somewhere other than in my apartment, so I'm always prepared."

"Thanks, young lady, you didn't have to stay but it'll be so nice to have a young body here tonight. At least you'll be more respectful and with it than my last overnighter."

"And prettier, eager, and no whining; unlike some former detective we know."

"Don't remind me, Hiei, I'm too old for that."


	20. Chapter 20

Leela pulls a red dice-sized cube from her bag and drops it on the floor. She pulls out a sports bottle and gently yanks the top with her teeth. "What's that red cube for?" asks the old woman.

"It's just an inflatable mattress. It just requires water." Leela drops water from the bottle and instantly grows a bed.

"Just like instant ramen," Hiei smirks.

"Yes, and Fry nearly got choked by one of these beds. He put it in his mouth and took a sip of water."

"Oh dear, that's just what Kuwabara would do," Genkai rolls her eyes.

"Yeah like I told her, I can just handle the one idiot. Both he and Fry would be too much."

Leela watches him stand up to leave. "So you're going back to the tower?"

"I can manage by myself. I've got to check on something. I'm scouting the city for signs of trouble, in case I see the mastermind in person." Leela walks him out to the courtyard, holding his hand.

Leela gazes up to the sky, seeing the moon's light cut through the darkness. "It's really pretty out here. I only wish this thing wasn't going to happen. I can still smell the stench of decay in the air."

"Yes, and don't want this land to look like what it was back then. The scent of Ryuku is getting stronger too." Hiei holds her fist up to his lips and kisses the back of her hand. She smiles at him and draws her fist from his hand and embraces him in her arms. She draws her lips towards his, kissing him softly. They continue to kiss, as though almost afraid to let go of each other. She finally pulls away, still holding his hand, with a sad look in her eye.

"I won't be gone long, Leela-san. It's just for one night."

"Yeah, I know. I just hate the thought of you being lonely. I don't want you to feel like that any…"

"I know," he interrupts, "You're in my heart now. Once you're there for stay, I won't be lonely. I love you, Leela-san." Hiei winks at her and dashes into the trees.

"I love you too, Hiei," she shouts after him, as the breeze echoes her voice through the trees. She waits in the courtyard, gazing up through the cluster of branches, as though to learn if he heard her words.

Genkai stands in the doorway, smiling at her with dreamy eyes. "I remember when I was your age, being so young and in love. Hearing you yell your feelings out to the man you love brings me back."

"You didn't uhh…see us, ma'am. Right?"

"You keep to your private moments, dear, and I'll keep to mine. You're a grown woman and what you do is your business."

Leela strolls inside the main temple and sees Nibbler asleep on the mattress. "That looks comfy, Leela."

"Yeah, it certainly beats sleeping on a hardwood floor like this. That never feels comfortable."

Leela pulls her scrunchy off her ponytail and shakes her hair loose. "Leela, where is that car of yours?"

"It's right outside. Hiei and I walked right through it. Not only does it camouflage, it's got auto-clipping. It's made to prevent carjacking robots from stealing it. I'll show it to you in the morning before I leave."

"You do have strange devices, Leela-san."

"Genkai, I heard you guys talking in here about me. What sort of thing do you want from me?"

"The job is still open if you want it. Koenma's always looking for potential demon and specter hunters. The way Hiei describes you, you're smart, eager, fast, and tactically fighter. You're a master at martial arts, you're quick on your feet, you're eager to fight, and you've got smarts. He says you could be a challenge for Kurama in brains. Would you be interested in working for Koenma? You've got the required skills, plus you don't complain."

"I only complain when you force me not to fight. There isn't a battle yet that I've been defeated in."

"That's what I like in a spirit detective, the willingness to fight."

"What does this job inquire anyways? Will it involve me hurting people and laugh at their cowardliness? I refuse a desk job."

Genkai laughs at her, "If by that you mean kill demons and destroy the undead, then yes. You will have to build your spirit energy up even more to the breaking point. I won't go easy on you."

"Ma'am, when have I ever backed down from your challenges? I like them better than Master Fnog's training."

"You're the first person who's ever said that to me. I like your fiery spirit. You remind me of myself at your age. I'm certainly glad to be teaching a fighter without holding back."

Leela awakens the next morning with the thoughts of the last night circling her mind like a clogged drain. She looks at her wristband lying on the mattress with her and reads 630.

"Glad to see you awake now. What a dream you must have had. You were kicking and throwing punches in your sleep."

"I was fighting a score of a hundred demons and monsters, kicking their asses. I'll show them whose boss."

"Ha ha, quite what I like to see in someone deciding to take the job. It's not an easy job and it requires a lot of fighting skills. For Yusuke, it was forced on him. But for you, you've got the eagerness and a choice. Plus I know you're mature enough to handle a task like this."

"I'll think about it at breakfast. I'm taking Botan out."

"Is that why you're going up there, to invite her out?"

"That and to shake Koenma up some. Last time I was there, that blue demon wouldn't leave his office and I gave him an ultimatum." 

"Oh, you mean George. I wish I had seen that. He's not as big as he looks."

Leela reaches into her bag and pulls out a black spray can. She shakes the can vigorously. "Are you going to paint something?" asks Genkai.

"Nope, just going to get dressed." Leela holds the nozzle to her legs and sprays out black pant legs. She sprays it all the way to her waist. She recaps the spray can and places it back into her bag. She pulls out a white can and sprays it on her waist and upper body. "This is how you dress quickly in my era. This isn't paint either; it's liquefied fabric that solidifies when sprayed on the body. This is really critical when stuck in a desperate situation where you have to blend in with the locals."

"I'd like something like that. I'm becoming even more intrigued by this stuff from the 31st century."

Leela smiles and shows her the wristband. "What does this do?" asks Genkai, "I've seen you use this device. You used it to communicate and track our group on that Seiichi case. What is it though?"

"It's like a computer/cell phone/GPS tracker for your wrist. Almost everyone from my time has one." Leela loads a game of solitaire on the blue screen and presses the bottom button to show a holograph of the game. She gives the device to Genkai and lets her try it.

"Wow, it's so simple. It's like playing a real game. I've got a game like this on my computer, but not as realistic as this. It's like I'm actually picking up the cards."

Leela shoos Nibbler off the mattress and pulls out a tiny fan from her duffle bag. She turns the fan on and aims it at the mattress. Immediately the mattress returns to the dice-sized shape and is gathered into the bag with the fan. "There all ready to go." Leela sighs and heads off towards the northern corner of the temple to a small bathroom. Nibbler looks up at the old woman and crawls onto her shoulders.

"So I see you're going with her. Nibbler, isn't it? You're welcome to hang out here if you like. I'm sure the young ladies want time to themselves to catch up. Besides if you're here, you could help me destroy any monsters wanting to fight me." Nibbler chirps and crackles at her. "I'll handle the poisonous demons and you can eat the harmless ones. I'll bet you're hungry anyways." "Well thing is, I can sense them approaching."

Leela reemerges from the bathroom and sees Nibbler on Genkai's shoulders. "What has he been telling you?"

"Can he stay here at the temple with me? I sense about thirty demons nearby, all from the Wanted List. Only about half of them are toxic."

"As long as he behaves himself. Nibbler, this is a sacred house. You need to be courteous to Ms. Genkai here and not get wild. Also if she tells you a demon is toxic, don't eat it. Let her defeat it. You eat the ones she says are non-toxic." Nibbler chirps in agreement.

"Oh dear, you need your wrist-thing back," Genkai hands her the wristband back.

"You almost kept it too. You're just like Shizuru when it comes to electronic devices." Leela slings the bag over her shoulder and walks to the temple's entrance. She presses the top button to rematerialize her hover-car.

"So that's the car. Really neat."

"At least you just want to look at it. Yusuke wanted to buy it from me."

"Would he be able to operate such a car?" Genkai follows Leela to the car and peeks in the right-side window.

"Dunno, does he fly well? Keiko says he gets sick on roller coasters. I told her it's nothing to fly in this car. It's just like traveling to Kyoto."

"I can see how you can get to Pluto in this thing, with what looks like an on-board computer."

"All cars come with computers. This has auto-navigation, artificial gravity, and oxygen tanks. That's how you're able to travel in space. It has atmosphere deflectors to keep the car from burning up when entering a planet. Under the car is a rocket booster for when you need to leave a planet. The booster runs on dark matter, which I had Nibbler fill last night. I got a lot of dark matter from him after the curry meal last night. He should be cleaned out."

"How fast can this car go?"

"Only about two billion light years per Earth day. I've been all over the galaxy in this car."

"Not even Hiei is that fast. Plus he doesn't go into space. I was doubting your ability to get to Spirit World, but I don't know. It might be possible to get there in this. You do travel to Demon World with that jet-thing of yours and that's a totally different dimension almost." Leela nods and opens the driver's side hatch.

"See ya later, Genkai. Behave yourself, Nibbler." Leela's door latches behind her and she immediately programs the destination into the car's computer.

"Leela, where is Spirit World?" asks the car.

"It's a dimension in the sky. It's the same as when you time-traveled, except without the flux-capacitor."

"Thanks, Leela. I think I can see it now. Is it this place with a pink sky and yellow ground?"

"Yes, car, that's the place. Can you get me there?"

"No problem, Leela." The car zips through the pink sky and searches through the sky.

"Car, you see that huge gate up ahead? Please take me there."

"Sure thing, Leela. I see it. Thanks." The car zips towards the two-mile high entrance. On the approach to land in front of the doors, Leela spots a red-haired ferry girl.

Leela lands and catches the girl's attention. "Hey Miss, is Botan home?"

"She's out right now, escorting someone up here. She should be arriving shortly. Is she expecting you?"

"Not really, I just flew up here to take her to breakfast."

"Oh, neat. You're one of her friends, right. Are you alive or dead?"

"I'm alive. I've been here before. The name's Leela. I was up here a couple months ago upon Koenma's request."

"Oh so you're that Leela. He would know you then. You can wait inside for Botan and chat with him while you're here."

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Hinageshi," the red-haired girl pipes. She pounds on the huge doors.

"What do you want? We're busy," grumbles a huge thunderous voice.

"It's Hinageshi. The guy I was supposed to get was revived."

"Too bad, now go away!"

"Koenma asked me to come up here."

"So what!"

"Allow me." Leela pulls a bullhorn from her car and turns up the volume to max, "Open up for Hinageshi, or I'm coming in there to beat you up!"

"Oh it's Leela. So sorry for the rudeness. Open the gate you idiot, or we'll get pummeled by her."

The gates open and the two girls walk in. "See how easy that was," Leela comments, "All you gotta do is threaten these morons with violence and you get in."

"Do you work here, Leela?"

"No, but I've got to deal with idiots where I'm from."

"Where's that?" asks Hinageshi.

"The 31st century."

The girls pass through the chaotic sea of frantic ogres and reach the doors of Koenma's office.

"Tell them I want the files now. Mr. Animoto's coming up today and I need his file now," shouts Koenma's voice.

"But sir, he's not dead yet. He's still saying his goodbyes to his family," replies an ogre's voice.

"I know that much, George, he's taking his sweet time. You have to expect for a 95-year-old jijii, his death will take all morning. Botan's still waiting for him, but that's not the point. Setsu Animoto is dying this morning and I want his file."

"Sir, it's me, Hinageshi"

"Is that child with you? That Tsuko boy."

"No sir, he was revived as soon as I arrived at the hospital."

"That's fine. George, why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to get Mr. Animoto's file?"

"George, get your big blue ass over to wherever that old man's file is right now and do what Koenma said. Now!" commands Leela. George stares at her and scratches his head. Leela walks over and grabs George's huge arm. She yanks him down until she brings his head to her mouth. She holds his head under her arm. "Do you want this job or not? If you'd like to get fired and sent back to Demon World or wherever the hell you guys come from, that's fine. My car is right outside the gate; I can take you there myself."

"Oh no, anything but that. I don't wanna go to Demon World. Please."

"If you don't bring that man's file here, I will do to you what I did to Seiichi's son and grandson." She starts squeezing her arm around his neck.

"No, don't be that harsh. I swear I'll be good. I…I'll go get it. Please…please don't hurt me," George begs, trying to free himself from Leela's chokehold.

She releases her grip and he slinks off and hurries to his desk. 

"Thanks, Leela, I've been wanting him to obey me all morning. Now what's you business up here today?"

"Nothing much, just wanting to take Botan out to breakfast."

"So did Hinageshi bring you here?"

"Nope, I flew up here. My car is parked in front of the gate."

"Well isn't that nice. You're treating Botan to breakfast and you flew up here…WHAT! Since when do cars fly?"

"Since 2801 sir."

"2801? This is still 2007. Cars don't fly, Missy."

"They do in my era. There's another reason I'm up here. I had an interesting conversation with Genkai last night and earlier this morning. Is there an application to fill out for this job you have?"

"A job application? For what? You want to work here?"

"She said that police job you gave Yusuke. Do you have to apply for it or what?"

"Police job, what police job? WHAT! You want that job? I don't have applications for that one because nobody requests it anymore. The spirit detective job requires massive amounts of spirit energy and master's of martial arts. You go through rigorous training, all the way to the breaking point. This isn't a job for the weak."

"I know all of that sir; she filled me in on the rigors. I'm up for a good challenge though. I like her training anyways."

"You've trained your powers under her teachings and liked it? You're the first person to hear praise her for the training. You're strong though; I'll give you that. I could tell that the way you wrestled George. You're a born leader and love giving orders. Is there any particular reason you want the job?"

"There is sir, and it's big. Do you know of a dragon sealed in a shrine on her plateau named Ryuku?"

"Ryuku?" shrieks George, coming back into Koenma's office. "No, please, anything but that guy. He terrifies George. He mean, evil, scary dragon who want to eat and destroy everything. George doesn't want him again…"

"George, will you can it!" yells Koenma, "You won't be fighting him."

"Oh that good. George wanna stay out of it."

"I've got reason to believe someone is plotting to get him out. There's going to be an attempt on Kurama's life today and there was one on Genkai's. Hiei and I sensed it before the danger got to her. One reason we think is she's the daughter of Monk Seiki."

"Yes, I know about her family. I don't need a repeat of her history. She's the last heir to guard the shrine that holds both Ryuku and Notaku inside. Wait did you say someone's trying to kill Kurama? Who would do that? He doesn't have connections to the shrine, not directly anyways."

"I read a disturbing article in my newspaper back home. It said there was a bomb at Tokyo Dome and somehow he was among the victims in the explosion. It's supposed to happen tonight."

"He wasn't on my list for today. I don't have him scheduled. He comes up here on his own accord. Are you sure about this?"

"I've got an obituary column with his name on it. Hiei thinks he wrote the column and put it in the paper himself."

"Sounds like something Kurama would do. It would be a way to figure out who'd benefit from his death and see their plan unfold. My question is why him though."

"Isn't it because he's as power as Ryuku? S-class."

"As Youko Kurama, yes. He can push his powers to the max at almost Super S. But that's under the most extreme of circumstances."

"Would getting rid of such of an opponent help in the cause to unseal the dragon?" asks Leela.

"Not really, the only purpose I can think of is he'd be an equal strength against Ryuku's power."

"Didn't Seiki drain the power from Ryuku, too?"

"No, just from Notaku. Notaku was a human monk, so Seiki was able use his powers to remove the collected spirit energy out of Notaku and redirect it into his son. But even someone as powerful as Seiki was could drain a dragon's powers. Dragons are like demons, depending on the level. There are no limits to power. That's why Ryuku had to be sealed like that. It took everything in all the three demon kings' powers to help seal him up."

"Why seal both foes in the same shrine? I don't get it. Wouldn't it be better to separate both evils?"

"Yes and no. Yes, the separating of the two evils would keep them from reviving each other. But the problem is if Notaku was separated from Ryuku in a different temple, if Notaku was revived first, he would no doubt seek human victims. Then he wouldn't hesitate to kill Seiki or his descendants and break the seal on Ryuku. There's something else to consider too. Seiki was under pressure to get both imprisoned at the same time. He was running out of time himself. He needed an heir to give his power to. Princess Sayaka was the closest one to give his child to. She didn't complain about him too much and did as he asked, knowing it was out of desperation that he needed a son. Seiki was afraid the shogun would find out about his enormous power and take it for himself. That's why after giving the powers to Tsuko; the monk killed himself. Better that then to have the shogun torture him to death."

Koenma pauses for a moment. "Forgive me if I go off-topic, who's going to Tokyo Dome besides Kurama?"

"Saito, Yusuke, Hiei and I, Chuu, O'Falla, Shura, Shishi…"

"Is Kuwabara going?"

"No, he says he hates Linkin Park. That's who's performing tonight."

"Wait did you say Yusuke's going? That might be the reason. Did he buy the tickets?"

"No, Kurama bought them. I was with him at the time. The ticket seller was very strange. He wanted to give Kurama front row seats specifically. Kurama was afraid the loud music would damage Saito's ears. He was requesting back-row seats."

"It's possible the reason for the bomb would be to get rid of demons, specifically. Are they among the victims too?"

"The number is random. One of the band members is killed; some of the demons are injured severely. Yusuke makes it out okay. I figure though the bomb is a ruse meant to focus the attention from the mastermind's real objective."

"Makes sense. The bomb scare is bad news but not anything strange. Bombings are a constant threat right now and there are groups of individuals willing to destroy big arenas like the Dome to prove their point," Koenma sighs and falls backward in his chair. "The reason I ask about Yusuke is his ancestral father was one of the three kings to seal the dragon. Yusuke's only a third of Raizen's power and strength. But that's nothing to sneeze at. He's able to transform into a mazaku when the need arises and raise his power level to S-class. Most likely the mastermind knows this and wants to get rid of him and any demons capable of opposing Ryuku."

"Would the death of Seiki's last heir do that to?"

"Genkai gave the duty to guarding the seal to Yusuke. She died once before, and the seal still held. It's possible if both she and Yusuke were both dead the seal would be at the mercy of this evil person and he or she would break it once and for all."

"Hey sir, Botan's back with the old man," informs Hinageshi.

"Aw good. So he finally died. Send them both in here." As commanded, Botan walks into the office with a bald old gentleman beside her.

"Sorry we were so late, Koenma. Mr. Animoto was wishing his family goodbye and was reluctant to die."

"I didn't mean to keep you waiting, young lady. I was torn. I wanted to spend more time with my great-great-grandson and his family, but I do miss my wife and want to be with her again."

"It's being arranged, sir," assures Koenma, "You've lived down there with very little sins and I don't see anything against you from seeing Marta."

"Leela, surprised to see you here. I was wondering whose car that was at the gate. Haven't seen you in a couple days," Botan chimes. Leela smiles and exchanges a hug with her.

"Who's this young lady, Botan? Is she dead too?" asks Animoto.

"No, she's still alive, aren't you?"

"Of course. I flew up here in my hover-car and was planning to take you to breakfast."

"The morning is still young. It's 9:45 in Tokyo. That's where I was just now."

"Botan, you're free to go. Hinageshi, there's been an accident in Hiroshima. There's a drunk girl in the driver's seat about to die."

"Aw, I don't like drunk driving cases. I can't stand to see a ghost with a hangover."

"Then turn away when she pukes and plug your ears."

"I never heard of the dead getting sick," replies Leela.

"Well it happens. Ghosts sometimes retain the affects of what they did prior to their deaths. This young lady was heavily drunk and not wearing a seat belt. Her ghost is most likely going to feel the sudden jolt and react to the alcohol," informs Koenma, "I would send Ayame with you, but she's already on a case of sending a cancer patient up here."

"Should I go in her place, sir?" asks Botan.

"You've been busy with Animoto all morning, you deserve a break. Besides you're next case isn't until 12:50 PM."

"Thank you, sir," she bows to him and exhales.

Leela smirks, "I came to get you to catch up and have breakfast." Both Leela and Botan leave Koenma's office and walk back towards the gate.

"Where've you been for the past two days? You were at Genkai's training when you just vanished without a word."

"Hiei had a human refusing to leave his car and was insistent that I come to his aide. It turned out to be Fry in another hover-car from the professor. He came to get me and I offered Hiei to come with me to my home. That's where we were for the past two days."

The girls walk back to the front ledge and stand in front of the car. "You were in the 31st century? That would explain where this thing came from. I've never seen a car like this except in videogames." Botan starts walking towards the left side of the car.

"Passenger side is on the right, unless you're planning to drive it," laughs Leela.

"Oh right. This is an American-made car. You guys have your…" Botan corrects herself and walks to the right side, "Sorry, I'm used to Shizuru's car and Keiko's and they've got right-side steering. Same thing with Kurama's truck. So where are you planning?"

Leela opens the hatches and slips into her pilot seat. Botan follows suit and the doors latch shut. "There's a pancake place that opened up last week and I've been dying to try it. Hiei's being a real stick-in-the-mud lately and refuses to go there."

"What's bothering him, other than the fact that's just how he is?"

Leela stares out the front window with a sad look in her eye. "He's still trying to get over her. He told me yesterday in my era that it was supposed to be his wedding day to Mukuro. We were at Macy's with a girlfriend of mine from Planet Express when he broke down in front of a crib in the Children's Department."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know how hard it must be for him, especially when he loved Mukuro for that long. He's got you in his heart, maybe that can mend it. But first loves are the hardest to overcome. Mr. Animoto said both he and his wife were married for 60 years. Then right after their 60th anniversary, she passed on. Ayame was the one who retrieved her that night. He said she was his first love and cried for almost a year or so. He still missed her, even today upon his death. He told me he's so grateful that Koenma's going to help reunite him with her."

"Car, could you take us back to Living World? I'll buy you a bottle of Lou Chuu."

"Leela, oh that would be the best thing. As you command." The car fires its engine up and zips back through the clouds, following the path it took.

"You're buying the car liquor? I didn't know they drink."

"A drunk robot is a better functioning one. This car is a robot and runs on the best alcohol. It's just like giving them a treat. That's Mom and Professor Farnsworth's invention."

"And Leela always pays what she promises, ma'am."

The car flies low through the downtown areas of Tokyo, making itself look like a four-wheeled vehicle. It turns the speed to 20 mph and drives until reaching a 200-foot squared flat-roofed restaurant with a sign out front reading Hunan's Pancakes in kanji.

"This is the place that was being advertised on TV. See, the Grand Opening flags are still out," Leela chimes, pointing out the red and white streamers and balloons framing the main entrance. The two girls walk inside until they come to a podium. Leela catches the eyes of a young girl with long black hair and dressed in a white and black uniform standing to the right of it.

"Ohayo," the girl bows, "Welcome to Hunan's Pancakes. Is it just you two ladies?"

"Yes. Do you accept American dollars?"

"Certainly. Our cash register has a toggle switch for that. Do you want smoking or non?"

"Non-smoking please," replies Leela.

"Follow me then." The waitress leads Leela and Botan to a booth beside a window showing Leela's car parked in front. "We have menus in Japanese and English."

"Since I'm still learning your language, may I have the one in English?"

"Sure thing ma'am."

"You're still having trouble?" asks Botan.

"I can read the romaji, but the kanji gets me confused."

"Yeah, I can sympathize with you there. Kanji can be difficult. You think you know what the word or syllable is until you see a combined character. Then there's thing about just because it reads the same in romaji the character changes. You'll get used to that, though. And with your brain, you'll be able to read it without trouble."

"I'm not at a total loss. I've got a program on the wristband here that can translate any text into English and load the information on the hard drive."

"That should come in handy."

"Ma'am, sorry for the delay. Here's your menu. There's only one copy of an English menu. We are planning to make more."

"Don't worry about it, hon."

"What would you like to drink?"

"Do you have pulp-free orange juice?"

"Yes we do. And for you?"

"Oh," pipes Botan, "do you have green mint tea?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be right out with your drinks."

Leela peers through her menu. "Glad this one has pictures too."

"Yeah and so does the Japanese one," laughs Botan, "Talk about overkill too."

"Yeah I see that. Maybe I could have gotten the one in kanji and just point out the picture to her."

"So how is he holding up? With Mukuro gone?"

"You're not going to believe this, Botan. We saw her."

"Mukuro? You saw her? Where?"

"She was in the New New York Zoo. You should have seen her. What a beautiful tiger she is. Pure white fur, sparkly-golden eyes, picturesque face, she's just a beautiful cat to look at. Hiei was just elated to see her again, even more so with that new body. She says she's here now in cub form at the Tokyo Zoo."

"So she's got a new body. She deserves it too."

The waitress returns to their table. "Have you decided?"

"Oh," Leela replies, startled by the waitress, "Yeah, I'll have the German pecan."

"And I'll have Hawaiian, please," orders Botan.

"Would you like bacon or sausage?"

"Bacon," replies Leela.

"Same as her," says Botan. The waitress nods and retrieves the menus.

"Hey, while you were escorting Mr. Animoto, I had a very interesting conversation with Koenma. I had the same one with Genkai last night and when I woke up. I'm intrigued about something."

"What was it about?"

"It's some kind of police job. I overheard Hiei and Genkai talking about me being qualified for it. I asked Koenma about it. You've got an investigative department in Spirit World, right?"

"Investigative? Police? Do you mean like a detective?"

"Yeah, that job. I was told it involved extreme martial arts skills and high spirit powers. I'm training with Genkai right now on improving my powers. All I want is something where I can kick someone's ass. I'm also a martial arts master, trained in all fields, even in a few ninja tactics."

"I've seen you fight first hand. You can out maneuver Hiei and even Yusuke, though I haven't seen you fight him."

"If he's got time, I'd like to challenge Yusuke."

"Oh he's got the time. That's a guarantee. You challenging Yusuke would be a fun thing to see and he's always up for it. You could do that before the concert tonight. I think his school is breaking early at 2:30. There's a huge field behind the right side of the temple."

"I've been back there. I use that huge marsh to spar with Hiei. "

"You like fighting him I know. How fast can you go now?"

"About 400 mph."

"That's neat you can get to that speed. Even more impressive is how little time it took you to master that speed and power. So you wish to be a spirit detective. That's a first. I've never heard of anyone volunteering for the job. With Yusuke, he had to be practically dragged to each case, kicking and screaming. Of course back then, he was a 14-year-old kid. You're a 27-year-old adult with a clear head on her shoulders. What brought this decision on anyways?"

Leela motions to keep the conversation quiet as the waitress brings them their orders. She places the correct style of pancakes to the corresponding customer. She pulls out a hot steel syrup bottle for Leela from a pocket on her black apron. She turns to Botan and gives her a clear bottle of pineapple syrup. "Thanks," replies Botan, bowing to the girl. Leela repeats Botan's thanks and bows to the waitress, too.

Leela waits until the girl walks away to answer Botan's question. "There's something going on up at Genkai's temple. I've already alerted Koenma to the problem. Do you know of the shrine on her property?"

"You mean the tall building directly behind the temple itself. I know an evil dragon was sealed in it for centuries. It's protected by her ancestor's sutra barrier and the responsibility to guard it as been passed from Seiki to Genkai through the lineage."

"Hiei and I came from Kurama and Shizuru's house after dinner. We had a very stern warning about the concert tonight, especially with the message about it might cost Kurama his life. Then upon heading to Mukuro's tower, we sensed trouble coming from Genkai's place. When we got there, there was a nasty stench of a rotting corpse and Hiei sensed a dragon. I've got a bad feeling there's a connection between the explosion about to occur at Tokyo Dome and what was sensed at the temple. Somebody's going to great lengths to free Ryuku and Notaku from the shrine."

"She died once before, but the seal wasn't broken then."

"She said she gave the responsibility to guarding the shrine to Yusuke. According to her, he's aware of the shrine and is prepared to take over its care."

"That would be his duty when she dies once and for all," Botan informs.

"Something about the bomb at the Dome tonight has me thinking. Kurama's investigating that right now, by the way. But I'm thinking with super powerful demons like Kurama and Yusuke there tonight, attention would be turned to the Dome and the thinking is to get rid of anyone able to oppose Ryuku. I've also figured out that somebody's wanting to get rid of the current guardian of the shrine."

"Are you serious? That's a pretty big case to leap into for anyone, especially for a newbie spirit detective."

Leela cuts a wedge from one of her pancakes with the side of her fork. She stabs the wedge with the prongs and slides it into her mouth. "Say, Botan. Can you give me an idea of what this dragon looked like? Is there anything you have on him?"

"You mean like a file? There is a profile of him in the archives room. We've also got Seiki himself in the Nirvana room. You can ask Koenma to arrange an interview with him."

"Oh wonderful. I'd love to meet him and ask him about it."

"You're just like Kurama on a case. You investigate before fighting," Botan comments before placing a piece of pancake in her mouth.

"I just like to know who or what I'm up against. Isn't that a detective's job anyways, investigation? That's what detectives get paid to do on the police force. I figured being a detective for Spirit World wouldn't be any different. I'll dig first, fight later."

"With Yusuke, that order was reversed. He was more interested in fighting than investigating. He just didn't have that sort of attention for learning what he was up against."

"I want to figure out Ryuku's power and strength. Maybe by learning what he was like, I can ask Genkai to help me train my spirit powers and my strength to match his or at least come close. The beast required the three kings powers. If any are still around, dead or not, I want to interview them as well. Mukuro's still at the zoo, so maybe I can ask her about what happened 500 years ago. If I have to, I'll go back to my own era for that."

Botan smirks at her, "You really take this job seriously. I like this take-charge attitude you have about the spirit detective job. Nobody's twisting your arm or assigning you cases for you. You make up a case for yourself and you handle it yourself. You don't even know who's behind it."

"I think I know what he is though. The mastermind is human. The one of the clues to that is the bomb in Tokyo Dome. From what I figure, demons wouldn't be so interested in blowing a human place up except for food. If demons from the Wanted List would attack such places, even the low-intelligence ones would know more powerful demons like Kurama or Hiei would pick up on their movements and kill them before their plot succeeded. However a human with spiritual awareness doing this would have counted on the opposition being demons and use the strict laws to protect humans against them."


	21. Chapter 21

The girls finish breakfast and Leela asks the waitress for the check. The waitress promptly returns to the table with the bill with four peppermint disks. Leela flips the bill and sees the price in kanji. "What does that say, Botan?"

"It reads $11.75. I'm certain they're still new at this business and haven't worked out all the bugs, especially for English-speaking customers."

Leela pulls a pocketbook out her pants pocket and withdrew a $20. "So what's your next move, if you don't mind me asking?" asks Botan.

"I was planning to meet up with Kurama at the Dome, see what sort of things he's found out. I want to fill him in on what Hiei and I discovered last night and see if what, if any leads Kurama's picked up so far. Then I've been thinking about searching the archives in Spirit World."

"Take him with you. He'll know what books you should look at. Plus we do have a video vault dating from the entire 200,000 years of history."

"That's a long time for videos. I know film and TV didn't start until the 1950's," Leela replies.

"Well on Earth, no. But Spirit World had the technological guides way before you humans possessed the knowledge to make it."

The waitress walks back by and retrieves the money from Leela. She returns promptly and gives Leela $8.25 in change. Leela stands and places a dollar and the quarter on the table. The girls prepare to leave and Leela bows to the waitress. "Sayonara."

"Sayonara," the waitress responds, returning a bow.

Botan and Leela walk outside towards the car, when Botan hears Koenma speak to her, telepathically. "Sorry, Leela, I've got to split. The 12:50 case is starting now."

"It's only 10:15."

"Yes but the little girl is crashing now and I've got to pick her up from the hospital. I'm glad Kurama's not working today. This was one of his little patients too. One time, his best friend's little girl died on him and he balled in my arms. Poor guy."

"He'll have to know about this child sooner or later, Botan. Especially when we're up there ourselves."

Botan produces her oar and flies off from Leela. Leela pops open her hatch and slips into the pilot seat. She dials up Kurama's cell phone number on her wristband. "Hi, how are things going? Are you at the Dome?"

"Yes, but nothing looks suspicious here. I was checking the front row seats and I couldn't find anything."

"Perhaps our guy has the bomb with him now. What's your plan now?"

"Since this lead is cold, I was thinking about heading to Spirit World for clues."

"No way, I'm headed there myself. How about I just pick you up and fly you there? You get to ride in the hover-car."

"Yeah, then I would have bragging rights against Yusuke," he chuckles, "Guess I'll just see you in a bit, then."

Leela closes the hatch and zips off into the air. "Hang on first, Kurama. I promised my car I'd buy it some booze."

"O-okay? Never heard of a car that needs alcohol."

"I don't NEED it, buddy. I can quit anytime I want."

"What was that?" he asks.

"Just the car talking. Robots just act that way," laughs Leela, sheepishly.

She flies the car to the closest liquor store near the pancake restaurant. She parks in front of the stained-glass door and pops the hatch back open. She walks inside the store to the front counter.

She spots a middle-aged gray-haired man at the front counter. "Do you have a bottle of Lou Chuu, sir?"

"Yes ma'am, but at this late in the morning?"

"I'm buying it for a friend of mine. Do you take American money?"

"Yes of course. The bottle would be $10. Do you have an I.D ma'am? I don't sell to minors."

Leela produces her pilot's license from her pocketbook. "Tura…Tura…"

"It's Turonga. T.U.R.O…N.G.A. Leela, L.E.E…L.A."

"Okay, I see you're an adult." The man ducks behind the counter and emerges with a black-glass bottle. "The bottle plus tax comes to $10.34."

Leela ruffles through the pocketbook and comes up with $11. The man gives her the bottle and 66 cents. Leela bows to him and says "Arigato."

"Do itashimashite," he responds with a smile on his face.

Leela leaves the store and pops open the hood of the car. She finds the front tank nozzle and opens the bottle of Lou Chuu.

"Thank you, Leela."

"I had my breakfast, Car. Now you get to have yours." She removes the bottle from the nozzle and refastens the bottle.

"Aw, is that all?" whines the car.

"That's enough booze. You get the rest later on today."

"Okay," the car sighs with sadness in its voice.

"Look, I'll be going to the grocery store later and pick up a case of beer for you."

"Well in that case, cool," the car chimes. It closes the hood for Leela and opens her hatch.

"Thank you, car, how sweet of you."

"I liked the taste of that booze you gave me."

"What taste, you're a robot?"

"I know, but that was good booze." Leela slips back into the pilot seat as the car closes the hatch. "Where next?"

"Tokyo Dome, please. Do you know where that is?"

The car pauses for a few minutes. "Ah, yes. How long do you want to get there?"

"Soon as possible. I'm meeting someone there."

The car flies up and zips off through the air, heading to the destination. Almost immediately, the car parks in front of the entrance and Leela spots Kurama standing right on the curb.

Leela opens his side hatch. "That was fast. I was expecting a half n' hour wait."

"Yes, but this car is can go up to 200 billion light years in a day, so the distances around town are nothing, like a very short jog."

Kurama laughs at her and gets in the car. "I can see why Yusuke wants to buy this from you. It's so nice in here. Feel like an astronaut in this thing."

"I want you guys to get comfortable in this car, since this weekend, we'll be going to my era. Hiei's already used to it." The car takes off to Spirit World again.

"I'm surprised he's not jealous that some machine flies faster than he does."

"Hey, watch it, mister! I am NOT just 'some machine'," the car retorts.

"Sorry about that, uh… sorry I'm not used to talking to cars."

"That's all right," laughs Leela, "That's just the way robots are. In my era, most robots work and live like how you humans do now. Sometimes they get temperamental or overly sensitive. One of my co-workers is a robot. But he's such a lazy machine. Bender's idea of working is sitting on the couch, drinking beer, and watching TV all day."

"We're here at Spirit Land or World or whatever this place is called," announces the car.

Leela gets out of the car, followed by Kurama, and pounds on the gate doors.

"Who is it?"

"It's Leela again."

"Oh sorry. Be quick you morons, unless you want her to kill you."

"What the hell is that all about?" Kurama chuckles.

"Earlier this morning, they wouldn't open the doors for Hinageshi, so I threatened these dummies with physical violence."

"I never have to do that. Course they've known me forever."

The two walk through the long hallway and through the sea of chaotic ogres. "I've seen more order at the Interplantitary Stock Exchange," Leela comments.

"I'll bet you have," sighs Kurama.

"Now Mister, where's the archives room?"

"Follow me. By the way, what are you searching for?"

"I'm researching information regarding the shrine of Genkai's land."

"Oh you mean that one behind the main temple. You know there was a huge dragon sealed up there during the Feudal Era."

"Yes, that's what she told me last night."

"Last night? I thought you and Hiei were going back to the tower, directly from my house."

"We were until my wristband went off and both of us sensed ten entities approaching her temple. When we got there, we smelled something like a rotting corpse and aura of a dragon. I had a bad feeling about leaving her alone last night, so I stayed the night there."

"You know she can take care of herself. Ten demons wouldn't be a big deal."

"I left Nibbler down there with her to help. When I left, we felt thirty demons approaching, only half were toxic. Besides fifteen demons would be good for him. That was his breakfast today."

"He eats them? Bit by bit?"

"Nope just swallows them whole. Don't ask me how he does it. His stomach has the same properties as a black hole, I guess. But that's where my dark matter comes from, so I don't complain."

The two walk past a massive hallway from the left of Koenma's office. They reach a huge doorway, leading into a mile-long library. Leela pulls out her translating monocle and starts panning the room. "Where should I look for the history of Seiki's temple?"

Kurama leads her down a vast maze of bookcases until he shows her the aisle marked "Feudal Era". "This has everything you need to know about the era. It's got everything you need to do your research. Why are you doing the research for anyways? Are you a detective?"

"I've asked Koenma about giving me the job of a spirit detective. I figured if I worked on this case, he'd like the work and let me have the job."

"You a spirit detective? What a job to pursue? Yusuke was one, but he was forced to do the job. The job is relatively new to Spirit World. Only a handful of people have the skills and patience for the job. Unfortunately for Yusuke, he lacked both. All he was interested in really was the fight."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard all of that from Botan. I figured the job requires researching subjects pertaining to the case at hand and investigating all the possible angles before making a final decision. That's what the detectives in the police force are paid to do, right? They investigate the crime, look through any leads, and then report their findings to the chief. In this case, the chief would be Koenma."

Leela programs a probe from her wristband. "Please give me the exact years Seiki was alive in."

"It was between 1500 and 1557," informs Kurama. Leela punches in the dates into the probe.

"What's the name of the location from back then?"

"Name…of…let me think…Musashi."

"Temple of Seiki?"

"Yes. Do you need the books down from that setting?"

"No, that's what I'm programming the probe for. It'll scan all the books pertaining to the time period. It's automatically programmed to translate the text into English. That's also what this monocle does. It's designed to read alien text and translate into readable English."

"That's impressive." Leela smiles at him and sends the probe to scan the books from Seiki's life and times. The probe zips through the books, pulling them out one at a time at blinding speeds.

"What it's doing now is reading the books. It flips through all the data and records what it reads."

"That's still a thousand books to read. I don't read that fast."

"I don't either, nobody does. But nothing beats the speed of a robotic eye."

The probe scans the entire bookcase and then quickly returns to the wristband. "Does this place have family trees? Maybe there's a family connection from Seiki's and Notaku's families."

Kurama leads her to an open area with a huge oak table and a filing cabinet filled with scrolls. She first finds a drawer with an SE character and pulls it out. "Let's see, SEA…SE… aw here's the SEI. Okay S.E.I…Seiki. Found it." She finds the scroll laminated and laid out flat. "That certainly saves us the trouble of having to unroll and reroll the scrolls."

"That's meant to preserve the scrolls so they don't get messed up and ruined. Some of these scrolls date back to when Japan was still part of the Ancient Chinese world, some to when even China was found."

Leela places the scroll on the table then returns to the cabinet, searching for the NO character. "N.O.A…looking for…N.O…T. N.O.T.A…KU. Here we are." She pulls out the scroll and places it on the table beside Seiki's. Leela presses a button on the screen and shines a sweeping red laser across each of the scrolls. Kurama looks intently at the whole process.

"Does this do what that probe thing did?"

"Yes, it's reading the data off of each scroll. This way I've got the information I need so I can read it later on and complete the analysis at my leisure."

"I'm surprised you're not working for the government in your time, Leela."

"Aah, this is way better. Back there all a detective can do is research and let the cops bust the ass of the perp. Here, kicking ass is part of it."

"Yeah, I just never heard of someone taking the spirit detective job this serious, or anyone invent their own case. Yusuke wasn't ever that devoted to the job and was reluctant to work the cases Koenma assigned him. You take it upon yourself to work cases before they get really serious or are ever assigned."

Leela returns each scroll to their proper places and prepares to leave. "Why compare me to him then? I want to get this case solved before there are any lives lost. I want to bring the matter to Koenma's attention first. But before I can do that, I want to learn who these monks were and who would desire releasing Ryuku in the first place. What does removing Genkai and killing you for instance have to do with this? I'm pretty sure the mastermind wants you guys out of the way."

"Is that's what setting off a bomb in Tokyo Dome was supposed to do?" Kurama asks.

"I think our guy wants it to appear that way. You told me it wouldn't be unheard of with terrorist attacks popping up at various spots, that he would make this one look like one. It would also look like it with an international rock band in this public setting for something like this to occur. I imagine security would be tight. I'm guessing you didn't find anything because he knows before the concert, the local cops would have swept the building with bomb-sniffing dogs."

"Right, so you're thinking he has the bomb with him."

"It has to be small and undetectable. It could also mean he's using a double or a suicide bomber to do the job."

"A suicide bomber would cover our guy's tracks and would make the scene look even more like a terrorist thing. And unfortunately in these times, that is more than just a possibility. There are groups who have men and teens to carry out such missions. There have been attacks in places like New York City and London. They go so far as to turn a western country's own transportation means against them and cause a vast number of innocent people to lose their lives." Kurama sighs with sadness in his voice. "The worst day ever was six years ago, Leela. No demon could have done as much damage as what these human terrorists did to your city. You said Fry was frozen at midnight in the year 2000, right? Good thing too. I don't know if he could have handled the carnage."

Leela hugs him, combing his long hair with her fingers. "Kurama, it's okay. I've heard about that from the News Millennium Archives."

He sighs heavily, embracing her, "Thank you, Leela-san. That day makes me sad, even now just thinking about it. One of my buddies from my Junior-high and High school was in the Twin Towers that day and died in the attack. I was also supposed to go to the towers too, but I was back in my hotel room with a bad cold. Saito was just a baby then and Shizuru was there with him taking care of me."

The two part from the hug and proceed to walk out of the Archives Room.

"Since that day, we here in Japan raise your flag with ours upon that one day."

"That's what I want to do here. I want to prevent this dragon from escaping or kill him and solve the problem so very few lives are lost because of him. By the way, is there anything on the dragon himself? I don't even know what he looks like or what his strength level is."

"He's an S-class dragon."

"Yeah, I heard about that. I'm just unclear about these rankings you have. Hiei told me you upgrade yourself when changed into something else. I've never seen you change into anything. You look like an ordinary Joe to me."

"You think so. I'm anything but that. You've seen my kids. They've got fox ears and tails. I don't know if you've noticed the tips of their hair becoming silver. Both of them are starting to look like smaller versions of me."

"You don't look like that."

"That's because of this human façade. You should look at my true form sometime."

"Well in any case, do you think Koenma would keep files or something about this dragon? I want to see what he looks like and run scenarios about what would happen if he was set free."

"I think the books your little device examined has the dragon in it, along with the history of Monk Notaku."

"Right, the monk who partook in the dragon's kills. My guess is why Seiki never reported it was because if the shogun found out about it, he would have Notaku commit obligatory seppuku. Still, I'd like to get information about Ryuku."

"Do you plan to read all that information?" asks Kurama.

"Are you kidding? I'm not going to read jack. I've got a program on here that's analyzing the data it received and is going to turn it into digital imagery. Then all I have to do is buy virtual headgear and watch the scenes unfold for me. I'll get first-hand experience at seeing this dragon in person. If y'all are interested, I'll buy headgear for all of you and we can see this ourselves."

"Whoa, really? I suppose you mean you're going back to your era," replies Kurama.

"You're coming with me. Hiei already knows what my home looks like. We can leave whenever. Tomorrow if you want. I've got to set up some rules first. One rule, in the 31st century, nobody knows what spirit energy is. I'm going to tell Yusuke that. A lot of folks are aliens. One of them is Zoidberg. He's a lobster alien. He looks more dangerous than he is. In fact, Zoidberg is chicken-shit."

"So is Kuwabara going too?"

"Why are you asking me that? He already finds me strange with just this one eye. Even now he still doesn't feel comfortable around me that much. I get the feeling the only reason he hasn't tried to distance himself completely is because Yukina likes me and likes how I am with the babies. I just think if he's nervous with me, that's nothing compared to what other people from my era look like."

"So basically you don't want spiritual violence in your world."

"Yeah, plus there's not just the fear that would bring. Some people and many robots will want to try it themselves. Hiei and I showed off a sparring match in the hanger for my friends to see. Bender wanted Hiei to train him to do those moves. Bender is about as slow as a snail and fights like one too, by comparison."

"Oh my, so our spirit energy takes a break too?"

"And it'll probably need it, especially if we have to face a mean, scary dragon upon our return. Also another reason for Kuwabara to say put is to make sure nobody disturbs this dragon. If anything, I know he's very protective of Genkai."

"I'm going to ask Ashanti and Arbu to protect her as well. So what about tonight? What about the concert?"

"Perhaps you should go, but not take Saito with you. See what happens. The bomb goes off after "In The End". Do what you have to. Can you make a double of yourself? You made that shikigami look like Mukuro. Maybe you make one that looks like you? Just do what you have to, as long as you stay alive. That's all I want tonight. I want you alive."

"I know you're still worried about that. You've got the right to be. I get close to death on many occasions."

Leela staggers towards the entrance and leans against the first set of bookcases. "I want you to be alive after tonight. I just can't bear the thought of you getting killed. I don't want you up here in Spirit World for good. Please…please stay alive tonight." Leela cups her hands over her face.

Kurama holds her in his arms. "Shh. It's okay. I promise you I'm not going to die. It's extremely rare of me to break a promise like that. I know Koenma doesn't have a place for me, especially not for tonight. He trusts I'm not going to die and leave my family. If it'll make you feel better, I won't even be there tonight. I'll just ask Koenma to focus one of his cameras on Tokyo Dome tonight. Or I'll go but stay towards the entrance. I'm really not that interested in Linkin Park anyways. Their music is too loud my sensitive ears. One of the only reasons I bought the tickets is because one of my colleagues insisted I go. He's a big fan. You were going too and said the band was awesome."

"Say Leela, here's another idea. How many people does that car seat?"

Leela pulls away and rubs her eye. "It can seat eight adults comfortably."

"There you go. How about we tour the northern mountains tonight? Very few cars make it up there and I hear there are incredible natural hot springs up there unspoiled by civilization."

"Seriously? That'd be a chance to get a feel for riding in a hover-car. Hiei already had that experience. He falls asleep half the time. Yusuke needs the experience, he was practically begging for a ride. It's not like a roller coaster, except maybe for the speed of it. I promise no sharp dives or fast loop-ta-loops. I only do out in space anyways. Then you don't feel any speed or gravitational forces."

The two walk out of the room and back towards the main floor. Leela spots Botan walking in with a little girl with long black hair and a pink flowery kimono beside her. "Kurama, is that…?"

"Yeah, that's one of my patients," he sighs, catching her eye, "Hey, Mitzy."

Both he and Leela approach the little girl. Mitzy looks at Kurama with a strange look in her eyes. "Doctor? Are y…you dead too?"

"No, I'm just…uh visiting here."

"Mitzy, what he means is I brought him up here in that magic flying car outside because we knew you'd be coming up here and he wanted to greet you."

"Oh, neat. Thank you Mr. Doctor. You too, pretty one-eyed lady. Botan can I come back looking like her?"

"We'll see," smiles Botan. Botan leads the girl into Koenma's office.

"Do you want to follow them in and ask him about the camera…?"

"Oh, you mean for the concert. He's going to be busy with Mitzy now."

"Say what time do you have? It's so easy to lose track up here. I did that once when Hiei was up here with me in Heaven's Garden, while my body was being channeled," she starts smirking, trying to erase her smile.

"It's 12:30. Do I need to ask what you guys were doing with your freed spirit?"

"No, but I'll give you a hint about what fun Heaven's Garden is with just you and your lover. Take Shizuru there sometime; you'd enjoy it," Leela smirks with a whisper.

"Thanks, we might give it a shot," he chuckles under his breath. Leela makes her way into Koenma's busy office, squeezing past three huge ogres.

"Does one of you have Mitzy's folder?" asks Koenma.

"I had it a second ago," replies George.

"I gave it to you, George," responds an orange ogre with blue hair.

"No, I'm pretty sure I gave it to you, Hugo."

"No, I had it and gave it to you, Hugo," replies a red ogre with yellow hair.

Leela folds her arms and rolls her eye. She spots a large manila file folder under George's arm. She lifts up his arm and lets the folder drop into her hand. "Here you go, Koenma."

"Oh so that's where I…I meant I knew where it was the whole time," laughs George, sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with his claws.

"George, if your head wasn't bolted to your neck, you'd lose that too," replies Leela, giving him a tired stare.

"Well said," remarks Koenma, "What do you need?"

"Botan is here with the…would you guys move out of Botan's way?" charges Leela, "If you three chumps got nothing else better to do, then get back to your desks and write up the next case. I'm sure somebody else is going to die soon."

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry," all three ogres reply in quickened unison. Immediately, they scramble out of Koenma's office.

"How do you work with that?" asks Leela.

"I don't know. Would you like to be my second in command, it's a way better job than the spirit detective one?"

"I'll think about it."

"I'd second that, Leela," laughs Kurama, "I've never seen those ogres move that fast, especially George."

"Would I still get to beat demons up?"

"Yes and you get to recruit spirit detectives, create missions, and work on cases on your own accord."

"That sounds like a fulfilling career. I've always wondered what it would be like to be the boss of a company. I'll give it some thought, Koenma."

Leela steps aside from the desk and lets Botan bring the child to Koenma. "Hello, Mitzy. I see Botan brought you here. You do know what that means, don't you?"

"Yes, little boy. Are you dead too?"

"No, I live here. I own the place."

"Koenma's like the president of Spirit World, Mitzy," explains Botan, "I'm sorry, Kurama. I know you were taking care of her."

"I was preparing myself for her death. When's the wake?"

"Tonight at her house. Are you going to be all right?" Botan asks.

"Yeah, I'll manage. I just lost a patient, but I'll be okay."

Leela excuses herself, "Botan, Koenma, I'll see you maybe at Genkai's. You've got this little girl now. Kurama are coming back to the Living World on your own or should I drive you?"

"I'll be fine. I can get back on my own."

Leela grabs him by the hand and leads him through the main office area and through the huge hallway to the main doors. "Kurama, don't lie to me. If you were really fine, your thoughts wouldn't be this close to tears right now."

He paces around the ledge in front of the gate. "I know what your thinking. You still wanted to save that little girl at all cost. That's the way things go."

"It just hurts to see one of my patients up here. She had so much to live for. She was a healthy girl. She was a classmate of Saito. Mitzy was in an accident. Some drunk driver hit her as she was just riding her bicycle. She received head trauma despite wearing a helmet. The driver might as well have hit a cat, he was so reckless. She was brought in last night after you left my house." Leela stops in front of him and embraces him with her arms.

"Just stop, please. Things like this just happen. Nobody lives forever. I know you would have done whatever you could. Greeting Mitzy upon her arrival here is a chance no doctor usually gets to do."

"What do I say to Saito? I don't know if he's old enough to handle not seeing his classmate ever again. They were becoming friends too. It's just…I can't…" Tears start flowing from his eyes.

"Just let it go," Leela whispers, "I brought you out here so you didn't end up making her cry." She rubs his back in a circular motion. He sniffs back and tries to stifle his tears. After awhile he pulls away from her, trying to pull himself together.

"Her wake is tonight; Hiei and I will stop through before all of us tour the mountains tonight, at least to pay our respects to the girl."

"Thank you."

"Do you want a ride to Living World?"

"Naw, I've got my own ride."

Leela checks her wristband for Yusuke's cell number. "Would Yusuke have class now?"

"No I think his last one was at 1:15. This is the students' last real day of school. Tomorrow is the teacher's last. Since he's a coach, he doesn't have to be there. I think Keiko's also taking off."

"I'll call him from here; freak him out a little."

"Think you can reach him from here?" asks Kurama.

"I am right…Hello, Yusuke? It's just Leela."

"Yeah, where are you, girl? You're coming in clear, almost too clear."

"Oh I'm no where important…just Spirit World."

"That's fine…WHAT! You're in Spirit World!"

"I'm right on the ledge outside the gate. I brought my car up here."

"Okay. You flew up there on your own. You said you'd do that today. How did Koenma like that?"

"Okay for him, but I gave one of his ogres, that blue one, a chokehold for disobeying him. And the gate guys are afraid of me."

"I would have paid to see you make George obey Koenma. So what's your plan now?"

"Oh what would you say to a little one-on-one thing at the temple at 3PM?"

"What brought this on? Just a whim?"

"Something like that. Beside when was our last skirmish? Like two or three weeks ago?"

"Last month, Leela."

"Right, besides I want to limber up for the next case about to unfold."

"What new case? Did Koenma assign you something?"

"No it was the other way around. There's a huge case about to pop and I want to be ready for it. It has to do with the shrine on Genkai's property."

"How about 4:00 instead of 3:00? Give you one more hour with old Mr. Grouch."

"Okay so I'll head that way then. Hang on…" Leela covers her hand over her wristband yells back at Kurama, about to head back inside the gate.

"Tell Botan 4:00 at Genkai's." He nods and gives her a thumbs-up.

Leela opens the hatch on the pilot's side of the car and starts the rocket booster. "I guess I'll bump off here and let you get back to your…uh."

"Nope, I'm done and I'm heading home now."

"Sounds great. See you at 4:00 then? Oh wait there's something else, I hope you don't mind a change in plans for tonight."

"Really, no rock concerts?"

Leela shuts the hatch and flies off through the clouds in Spirit World. "How about instead a ride to the northern mountains in my car? The plan has changed for tomorrow we leave for my era."

"Really, cool. A ride to the northern mountains?"

"Kurama told me there are hot springs unspoiled by civilization. He says very few cars, if any, get up there at all. My car can seat between six-to-eight people, comfortably. It'll give you an experience of riding in a hover-car."

"Count me in, girl. Who cares about a stale rock band anyways?"

"All right I'm about to cross the border here and head for Demon World. It's almost 2:00 now. I'll catch you at 4:00."

"Yeah okay then. Take care." With that, Leela's connection to Yusuke goes blank on her screen.

"Where to, Leela? Did you say Demon World?"

"Yeah, Car. Can you get me there?"

"Sure thing. Oh that's not far at all," comments the car.

The car zips through straight to Demon World and heads towards Mukuro City. The car flies across the rooftops to the huge tower. She flies the car inside the structures first floor and parks it. She heads into the bathroom on the same floor and closes the door. She checks herself in the mirror above the sink before slipping off her pants and taking a seat on the toilet just to the side of the vanity. She rests her elbows on top of her knees and closes her eye. Her mind races while she pees. 'This day's hardly over and I'm already beat. A lot of stuff to just take in. I wonder what Ryuku looks like. I also wonder if there isn't a connection between Seiki and Notaku that has been kept secret. I'm not sure who's interested in reawakening this dragon anyways. Who'd benefit from that?' She stands up slowly from the toilet and refastens her pants. Once again, she returns to the sink and washes her hands. She flushes the toilet and walks out of the bathroom and flies up the winding hallway to the top of the tower.

Hiei spots her saunter into the bedchamber towards the huge feather bed and flop into it. "You look beat. What happened to your energy?"

"I've got it but flying between here and Spirit World wears me out, even in that car."

"That trip does it to everybody at first. It takes some getting used to. Are you completely tired?"

"Not too bad. I've challenged Yusuke to a throw down at Genkai's. I want to rest up before hand and revive some energy."

"When is it?"

"4:00."

"Are you tired enough for some loving?"

"We could do that. Right here on this bed would be good." Leela unfastens her bra and removes both it and the tank top. Hiei lies beside her and rubs his hand gently over her chest. "If I fall asleep because you're doing that, please continue. That feels so good."

"That's okay. I've been wanting to feel you all day." He kisses her on her chest and moves his lips slowly up the nape of her neck.

"You know there's been a change in plans for tonight. Instead of that concert we were supposed to go to, how about all eight of us ride up to the northern mountains in the hover-car."

"Why up there all of a sudden?"

"Kurama told me there's some delicious hot springs hardly anybody can get to. Very few cars get up there. I figure just the eight of us would have them to ourselves."

"Mm, by eight, you mean my sister and my idiot friend she's with. I suppose it would get especially him out of the daily grind. Any other reason for this?"

"Just that we're going to my era tomorrow. We'll leave him behind on that one."

"Why do that? Do I have to ask?"

"Hiei, you've seen my friends. Think about what would happen if Kuwabara met Zoidberg."

"Oh yeah, good point. Would be a waste of spirit energy on someone like that."

"It's like harnessing a lightning bolt to kill a fly."


	22. Chapter 22

Leela glances at her wristband. "It's almost 3:30 now."

Hiei sighs and looks at it too. "I guess you need to get ready. Are you taking the car?"

"Naw, I'll fly. I'm energized now, but I need a warm-up anyways. Flying to the temple would be just that." Leela straps her bra back on and slips into her tank top. She motions to Hiei to help lift her from the bed by raising her arms.

"I thought you said you were energized."

"Come on, please," she begs. He shrugs his shoulders and grabs each of her hands. He starts to help her up when she suddenly draws him on top of her and kisses him, knocking him off balance.

"You little trickster, you didn't need help," he smirks.

"But I did. I needed more energy from you."

"You need more of something, but not energy."

Leela kisses him again and slowly seats herself back up. She swings her legs over the side of the bed plants her feet upon the floor. She finds her boots standing erect on the floor at the end of the bed. She quickly slips into them and prepares to leave the room. Hiei stands back on the floor and follows close behind her. They start to saunter in the spiral hallway; after awhile they gain speed and race each other to the first floor.

Leela glances at the car parked in the foyer. "Shall we go? If I need the car, while we're at Genkai's, I'll call for it. The car knows the way to her place anyways."

With that, the pair takes off into the air. Each fly using the air currents to land on for brief instances. Swiftly they zip through the trees, crossing over the border, racing each other. Leela lands on the top of a tree and peers out in the direction of the temple. Suddenly she spots ten intruding demons approaching the temple. "Hiei, we've got party crashers ahead of us," she shouts at him.

"Not if I can help it." He zips in front of her and withdraws his sword. He slices through three demons on the ground. Leela spots two baboon demons in the trees in front of her.

"All right, uglies, who invited you?" Leela sneers as she kicks one monkey in the jaw and hurls him to the ground, breaking his neck upon collision. She quickly dashes off for the other monkey demon. She launches energy bombs from her hands and blasts the demon to pieces. She quickly juts off and blasts three more demons.

Hiei races further on and catches up to the last two demons, slicing them to pieces. "How was that for a workout?" he hollers back at her.

"Yeah that was fun. Bring them on." She glances at her wristband. "Shit, we're almost late."

"We're close to the temple. Come on," he ushers. She nods and zips towards the temple, closing him in from behind. Finally the two land on the plateau, in the middle of the courtyard. Leela catches Yusuke's eyes upon landing.

"Sorry if we're late. Some uninvited guests wanted to spoil our fun."

"No problem. I sensed them coming then vanish just like that."

"Hey I needed the workout. I was worried about not having enough energy."

"Yeah then you try taking mine back at the tower," smirks Hiei as he lands on the ground beside her.

"Do I need to know about it?" asks Yusuke.

"I doubt it, but you might hear it anyways," laughs Leela. "Another reason for this match is, we're going to my time tomorrow and this might be our only chance to spar for now. Not that fighting won't be allowed, just there's a limit to spirit power use. For one thing nobody in New New York, expect for one, understands what spirit energy is."

"One person there knows about it?" Yusuke asks.

"Mukuro is alive and in a tiger's body. She's at the zoo if you want to meet her," replies Hiei.

"Then that's all the more reason to go into the future tomorrow," sparks Yusuke.

Genkai walks out with Nibbler beside her. Nibbler leaps into Leela's arms and licks her in the face. "Did you miss me?" Leela giggles, "Was he good to you?"

"He was awesome. I don't think he's hungry anymore. What a feast he had on the demons that attacked here."

"Grandma, he ate demons here."

"Nibbler says they were tasty," laughs Leela, "He feels as fat a pig."

"I've got a bag full of that dark-matter stuff."

"That should help on our journey. I've still got plenty of dark matter fuel from last night. Despite traveling between Spirit World and here, I barely used up any fuel."

"So what sort of game do you want to play? Do you want me to go easy or let loose?"

"You do what want. Just none of that go-easy-because-I'm-a-girl crap."

"Do I ever do that to you?"

"Yusuke, the last fight we were in, you held back so much I thought you were constipated."

"I didn't want to tear up the ground, that's all."

"Bull shit. Don't give me that. I doubt an old stinky marsh is your worry. You don't want to hurt a girl, so you back off. Guess what chump, I'm not that fragile."

"She's right," replies a grown Koenma in a soft voice, standing behind Yusuke.

"What do you mean?"

"You should have been there this morning, Yusuke. She had George in a chokehold for disobeying my orders, threatening to fire him and send him to Demon World."

"You mean that big blue coward? Oh geez."

"So if we're done with the chitchatting, should we get this party started?" challenges Leela, bounding backward onto the temple rooftop and then into a treetop overlooking the marsh.

"Yeah, bring it on, Missy…Damn it, girl, you move like a cat."

"Then quit you're bellyaching. I ain't got the time for it."

"Better catch her, Yusuke, unless you're interested in one of Master Genkai's students gets the better of you. She even told me she loves the training."

"Is that true? You love the harsh training and snappy insults?" he yells up to her. She dashes back down to him and stands on the air currents.

"I don't know which I like better, the balancing on a spike for half a day, scouring a cliff with boulders strapped to my legs, or working on my speed until it hurts. Or maybe it's just sparring with her that gets me pumped. I don't care, as long I get as strong as possible…"

"How can anyone like that stuff?" he steams. "All right fine, now you're getting weird and annoying. Is that supposed to set the mood for the fight?"

"You catch on quick. You're smarter than you look."

"Is this what I came to see, Hiei? A sparing match or this insult contest?"

"I'm not sure, Kurama…What are you wasting time for, dumbass? She's ready for a match and you're just standing there arguing."

Leela quickly notices her wristband flashing red. "And now we have intruders," she announces, and they're coming this way. That aura from the sealed dragon must be drawing them here like magnets."

"I sense them too," grumbles Yusuke. "Like thirty or so."

"So that's ten for each of us," asks Kurama.

"Hey, don't you dare leave me out!" whines Leela. Leela bounds onto the temple rooftop and scouts the direction of the incoming blips. Leela sighs, "Yusuke, I guess there's no choice but to spar in my world. At least there, we'll have no interference."

He nods and glances at the first set of demons on the ground. "Pig demons, it figures." Five pigs snarl at him, rushing at him from every direction.

Leela spots seven more splitting off and heading for town. "Hey get back here, porkers. Who said you could sightsee in Tokyo?" She blasts a series of spirit bombs in their direction, cutting off their route. They turn direction around Leela's strike zone and reroute to Tokyo. She zips through the trees and catches up to the pigs. She flings spirit bombs and kills three. She chases the other four, creating a barrier between the forest and the border of the city. Hiei heads in the opposite direction from Leela, cutting off the pigs escape routes. He springs straight towards the pigs and slices them to pieces.

Leela catches sight of Koenma. "Can you fight, sir?"

"I'm not much of a fighter. That's why I hire spirit detectives."

"He's right. He hired me years ago when I was a kid," yells Yusuke.

"My guess is long story and not the issue now," Leela yells back. She shouts to Koenma on the ground, "Koenma, you can still be useful. That concert's about to start, how about you go to it and lookout for trouble."

"Yes, ma'am," he responds, dashing off towards the city.

"That's a first, someone telling you what to do," smirks Yusuke.

"Shut up," he hollers back.

Leela hesitates for a few seconds, standing on the top of a tree. "What's the matter?" asks Hiei.

"Can you three hold off the demons approaching the temple?" she asks.

"Sure," hollers Kurama, "what's you're plan?"

"I'm going to tail Koenma and see this concert for myself. Perhaps there are these kind of demons there tonight. Somebody has a bomb with them."

Leela zips through the trees and across the rooftops. She races through Tokyo, catching up to Koenma. "I thought you were going to stay behind," he asks.

"Yes, but I'm curious about this event. The bomb is supposed to go off tonight." Leela leaps across a row of rooftops until she comes into a clearing and sees Tokyo Dome. She leaps to the ground, followed by Koenma. Koenma produces a pair of tickets to give to the vendors. They approach one ticket taker and each gives him a ticket. He punches the tickets and lets them inside.

Leela walks beside Koenma, through the outer hall, which surrounds the vast interior arena. "Hey, Koenma, it sounds like the band is starting."

"I hear it," he replies. They walk until they reach the main set of double doors. Leela grasps onto one of the handles and yanks on it. Someone from the other side pushes it open for her and both she and Koenma slip inside. She grabs hold of her wristband and touches a tiny button on the side away from her and an unnoticeable light flies instantly from her, attaching itself to one of the lights on the stage.

She opens a program on her wristband, which quickly displays a clear image from the angle of the stage light. Koenma glances over at the picture on the small screen. "What did you do to get that shot? It's like you can see the audience from Rob Bourdon's perspective."

"That's a tiny dust camera from my wrist-thing. It's undetectable, like the size of a particle of dust, but it's got a clear shot of the audien…I don't believe this. I thought Kurama told me he wasn't coming tonight. That lying sneak! I told him he gets killed tonight. But look at him." She whispers angrily to Koenma. He looks at the screen.

"That's not him."

"What do you mean? Of course that's him. He's sitting in the seat he gets killed in. What a…ooh!" she steams. "That bastard! Last time I trust him."

"Leela, that's not Kurama. It's just a double, like a shadow clone."

Leela walks back towards the door and is greeted by a huge muscular man. "The band's just started and you want to leave?"

Leela thinks quickly then presses her legs together and holds her crotch. "Please, sir let me through. I drank a bunch of soda before I came here and really have to go." She yanks Koenma by his cape. "So does my friend here. Come on, before…I don't know how long I can…hold it."

"Fine, I wouldn't want you to pee your pants," he grumbles, letting the two back through the double doors and into the lobby. Leela dashes out and races down the lobby until she's standing next to a flight of stairs.

"So did you really drink a bunch of sodas at…?"

"Shut up." She walks out and leans against a wall. She looks Koenma in the eye and crosses her arms. "Out with it! What the fuck is Kurama doing out in the audience? I thought he told me he wasn't going. What happened after I left? Did he change his mind or did you talk him into it?"

"Look, that's not him. That's just a shadow clone. I don't even feel his demonic energy in that clone. You've got to understand something about Kurama. First of all, he's a very old fox demon. The person you're used to seeing looks 29 because his human appearance, Shuichii, is that old. But as Youko Kurama, he's at least 1000 years old. He's a fox demon."

"Still what's the purpose of him here? Does he plan to let the enemy, whoever he is, kill him?"

"That's just how his mind operates. There's something about demon foxes you should know. Foxes are known to be great actors, tricksters, and con artists. One ability a fox has is cloning. That thing in there is a puppet. The real Kurama is back at the temple. My guess is since he couldn't find an explosive device this morning; he's created this clone and employed it to sit in his spot. You notice he was just sitting in that tree at the temple, not doing anything. He was focused in on the concert and he's using the eyes of the clone to see what's going on and see the criminal. He'll let that clone die to fool the enemy, whom I guess is sitting close by him. Then part of his reason to go to your world tomorrow and for the next few days is to lay low and make the mastermind think he's dead. That article you showed me is most likely his doing. That's another trick. I'll bet he'll go so far as to arrange a fake funeral with his 'body' already cremated. He told me Ashanti would handle it. And while all the focus will be on his passing, he'll still be safe and sound in your era."

"Interesting, so he's basically in control of the situation. But what's the point of going through such great lengths? Wouldn't the enemy realize it's a trick? Then what?"

"At this point, Kurama's in command and the enemy is playing into his hands. And in case you haven't noticed, his allies are positioned throughout the arena. In fact look behind the clone. There's Touya, Arbu, and Jin sitting together. On the opposite aisle, facing both Mr. Bourdon and Kurama's clone is his twin brother, Ashanti, and Shishi. See he's got these guys in place to keep an eye on the clone and Mr. Bourdon."

"Why did I doubt him? He's got all this planned and I just worried about him for nothing. Hiei told me that he wouldn't die, but I didn't believe him. Kurama himself told me he wouldn't die, I still didn't have faith in that. Am I such a bad friend that I don't trust in their words and in yours? You're thinking I should just go home for good because I doubt your words, is that it? I thought Kurama would die tonight; what a horrible person I am to believe what the news article on my thing says instead of believing the man himself, nor have faith in my lover's words. Hiei must really hate me for not trusting what he says." Leela turns away from Koenma, shielding her face with her hands.

Koenma wheels her around and embraces her in his arms, letting her cry. "You're not a horrible person, whoever said that to you? Nobody's criticizing you here. You're a very kind and warm person who's only looking out for her friends' safety and well-being. You've got good reason. I've seen these guys get in harm's way and almost die. Some even died completely. You know when Yusuke died the second time; I was begging him to live. I was crying for him. I know what you're going through, begging Kurama not to die. He's died once, but just for a brief moment. It broke Shizuru's heart in that moment. Then he returned with a promise to her. He would stay with her until her time came. Then he would take her to Spirit World himself. Her time will be when she's an old woman, about Genkai's age."

"You should know, Hiei doesn't hate you. Your desire to save his best friend's life is all the more reason why he loves you. You care about his friends, his sister, and his son. He's told me how much he enjoys watching you play with Hiro and says he'd like you to raise him someday. He wants you in his life, Leela, and that's a rare thing for him to say about a human woman."

"You really think I'm good. You've only known me for the past couple of months. You think I'm some sort of savior, just because I come from the future. You praise me and think I'm the most important person ever, like I'm some god. I'm just Leela, that's all I am."

"Leela, you are a good person. You want to know something, about this case your working on. I knew this dragon, Ryuku, would rise again someday. I've got an idea who's behind this, but I'm not certain. However I was preparing to call upon Yusuke and his friends' assistance in the matter. In fact, I was hoping someone would take it without a fuss. Then you showed up this morning with a stern report and a demand for information on the dragon and the history of that shrine behind Seiki's temple. By the way, I do have information on Ryuku for you. I'll bring it to you tomorrow before you leave."

"Should we leave then, if Kurama's got this covered?"

"It's you're call. Those demons in there have control. I've got one of the Spirit World cameras focused on this spot. Is that camera of yours still in there?"

"Yeah. I can just leave it there. Dust cameras are replaceable and reproductive. There's several more on the wristband. I'll leave it to record what happens tonight."

Leela approaches the exit when she hears the song "In The End." She quickly becomes drawn to a man sitting beside the fake Kurama. "Who is that? Where have I seen him?"

"Do you know him? Let me see." Leela flashes a holograph of the shot from the camera. Koenma pauses. "What? I thought he was dead."

"What do you mean? Who is that?" Leela calls Kurama on his cell. "Who's sitting beside you?"

"Nobody. I'm still at Master Genkai's."

"I don't mean that. Are you focused on your double?"

"I've been watching the concert through his eyes."

"There's a man sitting next to you on your right. Who is that? Koenma told me he was dead."

"That's…that's a demon bomb. It's Kasuku."

"Who's that?" asks Leela, "Koenma, who's Kasuku?"

"That's Karasu's identical twin," informs Koenma.

"Arbu and Touya, protect the band members," commands Kurama, "but do it so as not to tip Kasuku off."

Touya creates an ice barrier around the stage from his seat.

"Ashanti, get ready too."

"Koenma, we need these guards to get people out. I'm afraid part of the death toll was due to a stampede of audience members." Leela races to the double doors and yanks the doors open. She approaches one of the guards. She yanks his arm and demands his attention.

"Sir, there's going to be an explosion here in a few minutes. I suggest you alert the other guards and get these people out of here now."

"Why, who are you, lady?"

Koenma approaches him, disguised as a cop. "Sir, this is Officer Leela and I'm her Superior." Koenma flips out two badges at the guard. "We're from the bomb-squad division of the military stationed on Okinawa. We have reason to believe that someone is planning to blow this place up using a suicide technique."

"There's a bomb. He must have swallowed it or something. Hey Capitan," the guard radios on his CPU. "The military bomb people are here saying there's a bomb about to blow." Leela shows the man on her wristband, showing the time ticking from the bomb perspectives.

"It's supposed to go off at the end of this song," she informs.

"Attention," announces a voice over the loud speaker, "there's a bomb in the building. This is not a drill. Please leave here at once. I repeat," the announcement continues, "there's a bomb in the building. This is not a drill. Please leave now."

The guard orders the other security members to rush civilians out of there seats and quickly out the doors.

All of a sudden, Leela sees Kasuku vanish and sees the clone try to flee his seat. Then just like that, Kasuku reappears on stage snatching the clone and hold him by the neck. "Oh come on, you weak cowards! Why must you leave when the fun's just starting?" Kasuku releases a spell shutting all the double doors leading to the outside.

"Koenma, is Spirit World getting this?" whispers Leela.

"Yes, and now I've got a new case for Yusuke."

"Kurama," she whispers over her wristband, "Are you getting this?"

"I can see what's going on. Genkai's just called us back to the temple and she's got this on her TV."

"Know this, you insolent humans. In thirty days, my comrade and I will call forth upon this land a dragon, who has been lying dormant for four and a half centuries. We will relieve the shrine keeper of her duties and these fields of Musashi will be set a blaze."

"Oh no, I figured they would pull something like this. He plans to kill Genkai and release Ryuku."

"Oh one last thought. If you try to flee or fight the dragon, I will demonstrate to you what I'll do by taking care of this man. Kurama, feel my wrath against you for needlessly slaughtering my brother. Oh don't worry about that pathetic human feeling called remorse, you're going to meet him now." Kasuku immediately straps a bomb to the clone's body and disappears.

"Get down," Koenma shouts at Leela, grabbing her body and making her duck to the floor. The body and bomb explode and erupt into a massive blaze with fireballs flying in every direction. Immediately, Koenma shields Leela with his own body.

"Let's get out of here," coughs Leela, "He said thirty days, right? That should give us enough time to strategize." She rises quickly to her feet and catches Touya trying to contain the fire with his ice powers.

"Hey it's you, Leela. Koenma," greets Arbu.

"Where's the exit?" Leela coughs from the smoke.

Arbu transforms himself into a dog. "Get on my back, Leela."

Leela complies and Arbu bounds towards one of the double doors and bull-noses his way through. He gallops through the lobby and crashes through the main exit. She sees Koenma following them close behind, blowing apart doors with his own powers, allowing more people to escape. Leela's sight becomes blurry and she slowly blacks out.

"Leela, are you okay?" Arbu asks, "Leela, I said are you all right." Still his questions go unanswered. He shakes his back and sees her lying limp. "Hey, Boss! I think there's a problem here."

Koenma races to Arbu. "She's not responding, Boss."

"She's fainted. Quick, give her to me and you go rescue someone else."

Arbu complies and Koenma picks up Leela in his arms and flees with her towards the safety of the temple. "Hang in there, girl."

Koenma reaches the temple and sees Hiei waiting for them. "Leela, what's wrong? Set her down, now."

Koenma places her body on the floor of the temple. "Oh no, her lips are turning blue. She's not breathing."

Kurama immediately breathes into her mouth. "What happened?" demands Hiei.

"She's suffering from smoke inhalation from the fire at the Dome," Koenma replies.

"I've got her back as much as I can, but she needs to get to the hospital now. There's no time for an ambulance," informs Kurama, "I'll go prep a room for her." He darts off towards town.

"None can reach up here anyways," Genkai replies.

"I'll take her," replies Hiei, "I've already lost one woman in my life; I'm not about to lose this one."

Hiei picks her up and zips through the trees, carrying her in his arms. He leaps towards the hospital's emergency entrance and whisks inside. Kurama greets them, dressed in his white lab coat. Without hesitation, her body is placed upon a prepared bed. Kurama straps a heart monitor to her and places a respirator on her mouth and nose.

"If only she hadn't gone to that damn place with Koenma. I wish I had gone with her," Hiei scours.

"And do what? How was she supposed to know Kasuku would show up and blow up the place?"

"Is she going to be all right?" asks Hiei.

"I hope. With smoke inhalation, it varies. If she was in the building when the fire started and collapsed when she got outside, then she might not have gotten as much smoke."

"I just can't lose her. I've lost Mukuro. I can't…Leela…please if you can hear me don't give up. I need you. I love you. Just please, be okay." Tears trickle down his face.

Kurama sighs, looking at her, "Hiei, it's a good thing you guys came back with that warning. If I had gone to the concert myself, as originally planned, then it would be me lying here instead of her, or worse. I'll do everything in my power to see she makes a speedy recovery. There are plants in Spirit World designed for even overnight recovery. I will use my powers on her tonight as well. I still want to stick to our plan of going to her time, tomorrow. For one reason, to lay low. That TV camera broadcasted my death, so a good majority of people will believe me to be dead."

"You think you can do that? Make her good as new. She's human, still."

"It's the least I can do for her. Her warning and having her worry about my safety is the payment I need. Her desire to fight and her spirit energy will do most of the healing. I can already see it trying to recover her."

Leela starts to stir and twitch her face. She starts to moan with a weak breath. "Kurama, she's coming to." She slowly opens her eye. "My dear, you're awake."

"Where am I? Arbu…?"

"No you're in the hospital. You were unconscious and Koenma brought you to the temple and Hiei brought you here."

"I'm sorry, I should never have left with him. Then I…"

"Why are you apologizing?" asks Kurama, "At least now we know who's behind the Tokyo Dome bomb. I overheard you talking to Koenma, even out in the lobby. I'm the one who should apologize. I realize you know nothing about me. I wanted to tell you before you left Spirit World, but I figured this new case was more important than that."

"I tried to stay with you. I want to stay and help you solve this. For a moment I saw Hiei, then someone was pulling me away. Then I was bound by chains and barred from…I was being made not to see you again, like a prisoner. Was I being punished for…?"

"It was a dream, nothing more," reassures Hiei.

"Can I leave you two? I want to retrieve the plant for her."

"What plant? What are you talking about?"

"Kurama's well-knowledged in plants and herbal treatments. He's an expert; this is why he's a doctor. And the reason he is an expert is due to his nature as a fox demon." Hiei looks at her and holds her hand. His eyes start to tremble and his hands start shaking. "We need you healed as soon as possible. Tonight in fact. As you heard that Kasuku bastard say, Ryuku will be awakened after thirty days. That's no coincidence he mentioned that. August 5th, 1557 was the night Seiki sealed him in the shrine with Notaku. That's when all three powers of the kings came together as one with Seiki's power to seal him. I witnessed the night myself."

"Hiei, your thoughts are scaring me. How bad is this dragon anyways? Am I even powerful enough to handle him?"

"You can be. I think one of the herbs Kurama must be thinking of, when he mentioned your spirit energy healing you, will increase your powers ten-fold. It will be enough to oppose him. You won't be alone fighting him, and you won't be the only one beefing up powers. It will require daily training. I know in your world, we won't have demonic interference."

"Do you think we should call upon Mukuro? She said she's a cub in this era. Would the new body suppress her powers?"

"I don't know. While you were in Spirit World taking Botan to breakfast, I found her in the zoo and talked to her. She's changed bodies, but at this young age she's uncertain what strain it might have on such a tiny form if she uses her powers. If we have no alternative, then she will help us. I've asked Ashanti to be ready to release her if the situation gets too dire. In the meantime, Kurama's instructed Ashanti, Arbu, and Jin to guard the temple. Shishi, Chuu, and Tigrus have also asked to join in as the second wave of defense. Tigrus is anxious to protect Genkai."

"What about your brother-in-law?"

"Kuwabara wants to do what he can to protect his home, Yukina, and the babies. He maybe a dumbass, but he's not going to let anyone attempt to harm my sister. He's also very protective of Genkai. When the time comes, he asks to hide her in his home. We've lost her before to one of Kasuku's brother's friends. We're not going to let it happen again."

Leela sits up slowly. She looks at Hiei in the eye and closes her eye. She embraces him in her arms. She holds his head against her shoulder. "Let it go," she whispers.

"That's amazing. You know what I'm going to do before even I know." He grasps hold of her body, letting his tears soak the top of her hospital gown. "I almost lost you tonight. Koenma brought you to the temple and you had no breath. Kurama had to breathe into you. I felt so helpless. I love you, Leela. I don't want you to leave me. Don't you ever do that. I want you to stay. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you."

"I don't want to leave you either. I'm sorry if I made you worry about me. I love you too. I'd be beside myself if I never saw you again." She strokes his back with her fingers. He buries his face into her chest. She doesn't say anything, but runs her fingers through his hair. Leela feels his tears pour out like rain on her upper chest, soaking through her shirt.


	23. Chapter 23

Leela feels Hiei pull away from her and his tears drying from his eyes. "Thank you. You know, I haven't cried as often or been allowed to cry until I met you. I feel more human when I'm around you. I'm not supposed to feel this way. I'm a demon and it's wrong to feel…" Leela pulls his face to hers and kisses him, interrupting his words.

"What's wrong with feeling human?" she whispers, pulling her lips away from his just slightly, "There isn't an emotion as strong as the human emotion. Nothing beats it, nothing breaks it." She resumes kissing him, letting him rest on top of her.

She jerks her right arm out and sets it on his back. She glances at the wristband and taps the screen with her left fingers. Instantly a giant holographic screen opens in front of her. Hiei retreats from her arms and sits on the bed beside her, looking at the screen.

"What's that?"

"I'm just reading Seiki's biography here. Interesting. According to this his father was also a great monk. He had two sons. The oldest son was Seiki. The youngest was…oh my gosh, Hiei, the younger son was Notaku."

"What? They're brothers?" Hiei shrieks.

"That would explain why Seiki didn't want Notaku to suffer Obligatory Seppuku. With that punishment, the shogun not only has the criminal commit ritual suicide, he goes after anyone linked to the criminal, especially his family, and punishes them. Family members are stripped of their rank, land, and title. They are sent to jail and any women are sent to brothels. This was what Seiki wanted to avoid. That's why he dealt with his brother in this manner. By stealing his power and sealing him with the dragon, Seiki was avoiding being punished for his brother's wickedness and lust for human flesh."

Leela pulls up the two family trees. "I was suspicious of these two families. While I was up in Spirit World with Kurama, I pulled these two out. I was looking at them while talking to him. I was curious why the kanji was so similar. Now I can see why." Leela pulls the two family trees on top of each other. "This is a perfect match. This is getting more interesting. Hey wrist thing, show me the last surviving member of the Seiki family." The screen zooms in closer. "Give me a simplified version." The screen follows Seiki's name to Genkai's. "I was wondering who'd be after her. I thought it might be someone seeking revenge on her because of her ancestor. Now I know it's family related." "Hey, does Notaku have descendants too?"

"I'm not sure. You think one of his descendants might want him out?" asks Hiei.

"But why now? Of all the times, why pull them both from the shrine?"

"It most likely had to do with the kings. As long as anyone of them was still around, there was very little else anyone could do. There were attempts to get them out, but each one backfired because either Raizen, Yomi, or Mukuro thwarted the attempts."

"Since all three are now dead, there's just Genkai guarding the shrine. If she dies, there'd be nobody left. Kasuku said both he and his partner were going to awaken Ryuku. Kasuku is a demon, but the mastermind is human." "Computer, give me a simplified version of Notaku's descendants." The lineage of Notaku runs through to the modern era. "The last descendant is this man, Sakyo Valdez."

"What? Him again?" Hiei steams.

"You know him?"

"Yes, he's the CEO scum that gambled against Yusuke and Kuwabara at the expense of my sister's life. Then he sided with those infuriating brothers against us in that tournament I told you about here in the Human World."

"So he's behind the plot to release Ryuku and Notaku?"

"He isn't supposed to be. He's supposed to be dead. What the hell is he doing here amongst the living?"

"Call Koenma. Get him for me. I want to report the findings to him."

"Will you be okay?"

"I sense Kurama approaching this room again. I think he's just in the restroom. Go now and summon Koenma here. Tell him to give me a file on a Mr. Sakyo Valdez." Hiei complies and zips out of the room.

Kurama enters the room a few minutes later. "What just happened? I saw Hiei leave this room in a hurry."

"I've got a suspect to who might be behind this whole ordeal. Hiei says he's dead, but you know as well as I do how easy it is to fake a death."

"Who's responsible?"

"The descendant son of Notaku, Mr. Sakyo Valdez. He's the last descendant."

"He's dead. He blew up the Dark Tournament stadium and was buried under the rubble."

"Do you have a video of that? Doesn't Koenma keep videos or something on individuals?"

"He does, but he was there when Sakyo was crushed. He saw it happen."

Just then, she sees Koenma walk into the room with a videocassette and a large TV on a rolling cart. "What is it about this guy that you had Hiei summoned to me for?"

"He might be the guy who's pulling the strings to release Ryuku and Notaku. If it was just the dragon, I would just suspect Kasuku. But Kasuku specifically mentioned he had a partner working with him. So he's not alone."

"Kasuku is a brother of Karasu. I know I destroyed Karasu in the tournament. But that was so many years ago. After all this time, Kasuku was plotting to avenge against his brother's killer. He could have just come after me from day one."

"That was an excuse. His demonstration tonight was supposed to be a distraction. My guess why he chose to come out and announce the plans were because he knew you figured him out. He saw Ashanti, Touya, and Shishi. Then I guess he felt Koenma's presence and mine as well and had to confess his plans."

"But what does this have to do with Sakyo. He's dead. I witnessed him die."

"Show me the tape. It might be easy to convince your eyes of something. But if your Spirit World camera is anything like a security camera, then the footage captures everything."

Koenma flips on the TV and runs the tape. "Is there a remote to the VCR?" Koenma pulls a remote from the cart and gives it to Leela.

"You see this shot right, Leela. I'm down here yelling at him, asking him what his big plan is. He confesses he was collecting money to build a tunnel between Demon World and Human."

"Never mind that. I'm just interested in the footage. The little scanning thing on the wristband is scanning the video for me." Leela peers at the video. "What's this scene with Shizuru?"

"She followed us down to this room underneath the stadium and this is where I have to drag her out of the room. You see this burning debris of electrical cords and ceiling. It collapsed on him."

Leela pauses the tape and rewinds it. "What's with this black spot? Down here beside him, did the film burn here?"

"That's impossible. Spirit World cameras don't do that. And during the tournament, we specifically installed brand new cameras. This footage is a clear image."

Leela displays the image off her wristband. "This tape has been analyzed by my scanning device and has recorded everything. Run program 871-1 and zoom in." The holographic screen shows the recorded information. "Show me a grid display over the video." A square grid displays over the screen and captures each area of video. "I'm watching you leaving with Shizuru at the same time this debris falls on him. But look at the screen in the lower left corner. That black hole appears just as the debris falls."

"A trapdoor? Under the floor?"

"Tell me, Koenma, when someone dies, do they usually pass by your office with a ferryman."

"Yes, although some of the dead come up by themselves. That's why when you're up there by yourself, you get asked if you're dead."

"Hey," Kurama asks, "Did you see Sakyo up there? Was he brought up by a ferryman or did he ascend on his own?"

"I never actually saw him up there."

"Is it possible Sakyo faked his own death?" asks Leela, "Then he was buying his time, laying low for 14 years, and then he resurfaces to free his ancestor."

"What I don't get is after all this time he didn't release Notaku sooner. Why didn't he just do that when Genkai died the first time? She was away from the temple and the shrine. He could have easily broken those two out," ponders Koenma.

"What Hiei told me even if and when that was the case, attempts made to open the shrine were thwarted by the three kings. He was buying his time, waiting for them to die and then her." Leela thinks for a minute. "Something else is bugging me. Do you remember the original plan of ours, Kurama? You, your son, Shura, Yusuke, Hiei, and the other host of your demon brethren were supposed to go to the concert tonight."

"Yes, and that's the concert you wanted to go to until you and Hiei came back from the 31st century."

"How powerful are you, Kurama? Hiei told me you were an S-class demon. Koenma told me the exact same thing and said you were 1000 years old. I still don't know what ranking any letter-class level means."

"It means that I'm able to increase my powers over 1,300,000 kinetic volts of energy and transform into my full demon form. I'm a silver-haired version of my brother, Ashanti."

"Is he able to do that too?"

"Yes, except he's twice as powerful. And unlike me, he's stayed in his demon form."

"You said Raizen is dead, but he has a living heir. And Yusuke is the heir. Wouldn't he be powerful enough now to oppose Ryuku?"

"Yes, but so is Hiei, Arbu, Touya, and Shura," Kurama replies, "Yomi has passed his powers onto Shura. Arbu used to fight with Raizen on equal terms. Hiei's surpassed the powers of the dragon on his arm and is now able to transform into the dragon, when the need is desperate enough. He's can get as powerful as Ryuku, now."

"That's what I figured. Both Sakyo and Kasuku made their plans, in the hope of every demon able to oppose Ryuku, would be there. I think their original plan was to wipe you out in the explosion. Kasuku is Karasu's twin, which makes him a demon as well."

"Yeah, and Karasu was a master with bombs. During my battle with him, he used bombs as primary weapons. I almost died in the fight against him. It wasn't until the last moment, I called forth my life energy and sent a huge man-eating rose in his direction."

"Kasuku is also a master with bombs. My guess is his initial plan was to blow you up and kill you. He must have realized that clone of you was just a decoy. He must have figured out you backed him into a corner and turned the tables in your favor."

"So what do we do now?" asks Koenma.

"Hiei said we should lay low. The best way to do that is to have you five come back with me to my era to train. You have an herb or something, Kurama?"

"Yes, and you need to train your powers with it. This is ten times the power you have now."

"That's good. I want to train. I also want as little interference from anyone from my era. The best place to do that is on Mars. There's plenty of open ground on Mars."

"We're going to Mars?" asks Kurama as he starts to chuckle, "Now Shizuru's clerk won't hear the end of that trip. In this era, there are astronauts from your country wanting to explore it."

"Well now it's terra-formed and the air is breathable. We Earthicans inhabit about a quarter of the planet, leaving enough surface areas open and untouched. There's even a huge crater of a dead volcano. We could practice there without interference."

"So when should we leave tomorrow?" asks Kurama, "Do I need to pack tonight?"

"Do what you like. You're just going into the future. When I travel, I pack liquid fabric. We're leaving first thing perhaps. If Genkai doesn't mind it, Nibbler will stay with her. He can protect her by gobbling up some of the troublesome demons."

"So it'll be just you six?" asks Koenma.

"Well I figured you'd be too busy, especially with that scrambled mess of ogres up there," Leela smirks, making Kurama laugh. "Seriously, though, I don't want a bunch of people with me, because that temple needs security to the max. I'd feel comfortable if someone is there with Genkai. She maybe strong and powerful, but there is still that threat on her life and it's not going away." "If you don't need Botan, could she come? She looks like she could use a break."

"A break? She can do that on her own time. She needs to keep busy. I don't need her taking a vacation."

"Koenma, shut up. She's always got more stuff to deal with during each and every case. You've got other pilots, don't you? A little time off won't hurt her in the least. When we were at breakfast, it looked like that was the first break she had in a long time. All employees need time off to relax and have fun."

"She's right, Koenma. When was the last time off she had? Even Shizuru's office allows for vacation time. And her place is sometimes busier than Spirit World." "Oh, Leela, where will we stay? Is there a hotel?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have you stay in a hotel. Too much money, for one thing. My apartment building has two spare rooms adjacent to my room. Nobody's living there. The landlord is a robot with a really bad memory. He'll think you've lived there forever. He says he doesn't need an upgrade, but his memory is worse than a Windows 3000 computer."

"Oh Koenma, could you remove this TV cart, so I can administer the herbal remedy to Leela?"

"Will this make me puke like when Koenma opened up the channels to my spirit energy?"

"It shouldn't," Kurama replies, "That usually doesn't happen to anyone who gets their powers awakened. You must have had a touch of the flu when that took place."

"Or maybe it was from something like soul lovin'," Leela blushes.

"Soul lovin'? What's tha…never mind," Kurama blushes, "I'm not even going to ask. Apparently you didn't get enough in the hot springs the night before."

"So do you inject the herbs in?"

"No, this is a Spirit World herb. I'll combine the herb with your own powers and have it seep in and spread into your spiritual pores. You might feel light-headed, but you'll be asleep anyways. You probably could use a good night's rest anyways, since you had a busy day and will be traveling tomorrow."

"We're just time-traveling, Kurama. It's not like you're going to Hawaii. There's nothing to it. All you really need is a flux-capacitor and a car you can do 90 mph in. Fortunately in my era, there isn't a high demand for flux-capacitors because the manual is in Japanese, which is a dead language in my time."

"If Japanese is a dead language, then how is it your glasses and watch-thing can read kanji?"

"Because they see it as alien text and decrypt it." Leela lies back in the bed. "I think the herbs are starting to kick in."

"So how are we going to leave here? Is your car still at the tower in Mukuro City?"

"It was. I'm radioing for it now. It should arrive here and locate a visible parking spot outside. It should arrive outside in a few minutes. Just have Shizuru, Yusuke, and Keiko here tomorrow morning at 6:30. I'll ask Hiei and Botan in thought transfer." With that, Leela closes her eye and falls asleep.

During her sleep, Leela's spirit floats from her body and enters Hiei's dream. She sees a land of patted rice fields and town of wooden houses engulfed in flames. She wanders through the burning village and sees nothing but the skeletons of the villagers scattered everywhere. Leela comes upon a familiar-looking plateau, hidden deep in the forest. The sky is pitch black, and the stairs leading up the side of the plateau are lined by burning torches. Swiftly she flies up the stairs and sees the huge temple at the top. She spots a man with a baldhead, in his late 50s, wearing a black robe with a red toga draped from his left shoulder.

He suddenly spots Leela and draws a scowl across his face. "Wench, what ist thou doing so late? Canst thou not see this land here ist dangerous? Flee at once and return to the village."

Quickly the monk vanishes and Leela sees Hiei squaring off a huge red dragon. He looks sternly at the 20-foot-tall snake-like body, as it encircles him. She watches Hiei's eyes stare through the dragon's eyes, meeting its stare with fire burning in his eyes. The dragon snarls at him with such a ferocious growl, that it awakens the dead from their tombs. The tape around Hiei's arm quickly disintegrates, revealing the tattoo of the black dragon.

Suddenly a fiery blackened light engulfs Hiei's body. Leela watches his face transform into a fierce angular jaw, with rows of razor-sharp teeth jutting from his open mouth. Just then his body disappears into a zigzag of the blackened flames. He flashes wildly through the night air, like a thick beam from a ball of lightning. He plunges to the Earth once again and displays himself as a black dragon, similar to the appearance of the red dragon, both in size and in body design.

Then Leela sees the shadow of a man walk from the dragon towards her. He wears the same style, as the monk she saw first, but with black hair draped across his shoulders. "What a delectable woman you are, my dear. Hey, dragon, why don't you finish with that pathetic dragon-want-to-be demon and come have a feast of this woman with me?"

Leela tries to fly from him, but can't move. She flings spirit bombs his way, but is unable to harm him. He grabs her and prepares to run her through with a dagger. "Hiei, please. Please help me," she screams. She frees herself, and runs towards the black dragon. She runs until she reaches his front legs, feeling as helpless as a four-year-old child. She tries to hide herself between his eagle-like legs.

Suddenly an enormous blue light engulfs the plateau. Four beings stand tall, surrounding the red dragon and the monk. She sees Mukuro with a bandage and sutras around her face, a strange man with black flowing hair, horns surrounding his head, and his eyes closed tight, another strange man with pure white skin and markings on his body and a face like Yusuke's, and the same monk she saw earlier. Hiei swoops his head down to the terrified Leela and grabs her by his huge teeth, placing her on his back. He flies off with her, carrying her to a safe distance. Then she watches all four powerful beings surround the dragon and the monk with the same blue light. The evil monk's powers quickly drain out of his body and flow into the good monk's body. Then both the evil monk and dragon's bodies are drawn into a ball and hurled into the ground behind the main temple with a tremendous blast.

"What's going on here, Hiei? Was that who I think? Please answer!" Just then she feels his huge dragon body shake and sees his eyes start to glaze over. The scenery around them fades into just a black space of nothingness. He drops rapidly from the sky and plunge back into the burning village. Once again, Leela sees Hiei in his original demonic form, lying unconscious underneath her. She picks up his body and tries to find refuge from the surrounding flames. Suddenly she feels something wet and warm oozing from her fingers holding his head. She removes her hand from the back of his head and is shocked to discover blood. Almost immediately, his body falls limp in her arms. "Hiei, please what's wrong? Say something. Don't die on me. Please, talk to me. HIEI!" she screams.

Just then Leela jerks awake, and finds herself back in the hospital room. Then she sees Hiei sitting next to her. "I heard you screaming, Leela, so I came running as fast as I could."

Leela just looks at him and tries to speak. But she is barely able to mouth words before tears start flowing from her eye. "I was so scared, Hiei. What the hell happened? You were changed into a dragon to fight the other one. Then after that blue light came, you fell back to Earth and…I…saw you dying. Don't do that to me. Don't you dare die on me!" Leela cups her hands over her face and sobs as hard as she can.

He puts his arms around her and holds her. "I'm sorry I had to put you through that. I wanted to show you who we'd be up against if that shrine at Genkai's temple was ever broken."

"Was that red dragon…?"

"That's Ryuku. And that horrible monk you saw coming after you was Notaku. No doubt you saw the burning village and the dead bodies of the inhabitants. That was all their doing. Those retched beings stripped the people of their flesh and left nothing but the bones. Then Ryuku breathed on the village itself and set it on fire."

"Who were those powerful beings? I recognized Mukuro and I guess that monk was Seiki."

"The guy with the horns is Yomi and the one with the white skin and mazaku markings was Raizen."

"Am I just not strong enough to handle Monk Notaku? I felt so helpless and weak when he approached me. I could feel his wicked heart in his eyes. He wanted to kill me and I was powerless to stop him. I thought I was going to die. Am I that weak?" she sobs with her whole body shaking in fear.

Hiei holds her, trying to calm her down. "You were weak next to Notaku with the powers you received when Koenma opened your channels. But with the stuff Kurama gave you, you'll be just as formidable. You won't be weak if you train with the new level of strength. This time you won't get sick. The only thing you'll notice is the sudden change in speed and spirit power. That Spirit World herb also increased your defenses and healing time. In battle, it's important that you don't stay injured for long and it takes more from the enemy to harm you."

"But Notaku was so scary. I don't know if I can defeat him when he wakes up. What can I do against him? And that dragon was way too much for me."

"You let me handle Ryuku. Didn't you see me transform? You wanted me to show you my ultimate abilities. I can increase size and turn into a dragon. It's a technique I've been practicing for quite some time. I used to have to call forth the dragon on my arm and have him help me fight. But now I've gotten even stronger and now I can transform into him."

"But then you became weakened and died in my arms."

"No, I wasn't dead. The transformation with the combined S-class powers lasts the duration of the fight, but it drains me of energy and sometimes I slip into a coma. It's just a side-effect from using up the energy."

"What time is it?" asks Leela.

"It's still dark outside." Hiei looks at her wristband, "See, it's 12:30 in the morning."

"It's only that time. What if I dream that again? I still scared to see Notaku again. I think he was more terrifying than Ryuku."

"How about I stay with you tonight? Will that make you feel better?" He finds a soft, pillowy chair and curls up in it. "If you want, I'll enter your dreams transformed again and just let you ride on my back."

Both fall asleep at the same time and Leela finds herself once again upon Hiei's dragon body. He flies through night sky, overlooking the lands of Musashi. She gazes down at the valley of rice fields and the lands of the Feudal world. She rests on his back, petting his green mane and the black scales at the base of his long neck. He soars with her through the moonlit sky, blazing with a vast array of stars. Leela's body slumps like a rag doll and her eye closes slowly. Hiei finally finds a spot to land, atop a soft grassy levy, overlooking a peaceful valley with a soft flowing river. Leela slips off his body and is caught by his tail. Softly she's lowered onto the grass. Leela rests her head against the side of the dragon's torso and is secured by his sweeping neck and tail. His broad head lies beside her, with his huge nostrils aimed right at her. Leela starts to shiver, but is quickly warmed by the furnace-like breath emanating from Hiei's nostrils and mouth.

"Leela," he bellows, nudging her with his nose, "wake up and look." She opens her eye and gazes into the sky, watching the rays of the sun creep over the valley and cut through the night.

"It's really beautiful out here. I don't think I've ever had a dream like this before. I like your new body, by the way. I didn't know dragons could be so beautiful or as kind as you."

"I know and dragons like Ryuku are anything but nice and pretty."

"Won't this transformation make you pass out? That's what you said."

"Not like this. Only during battle when I push my powers to the breaking point do I weaken and revert back into my original demonic body. However I can transform and not waste any energy at all. That's what I have been training myself to do. I was intending to protect Mukuro with this form."

He picks Leela up gently by his teeth and sets her on his back again. "Would you like one more flight before heading back?"

"Back where?"

"To the waking world," Hiei replies, "It's almost 6:00 in the Heisei Era. Hold on tight." Leela grabs onto his green mane and he swoops down through the valley. He flies towards the river and heads towards the source. Leela spots a tall demon with silver fur and fox ears. "Who's that, he looks like Ashanti, but with silver hair instead of red?"

"That's Kurama. That's his true demon form. He's called Youko like that." She smiles and waves at him.

"What's he doing in this dream?"

"This is more than just a dream, Leela. This is the realm where the demonic spirits reside in their truest of forms. Look back once more at him." Leela turns and sees a large silver fox. She watches him peer up at them and twitch his nose. He darts into a nearby bush, flicking four tails in his sprint. He darts back out with a rabbit in his teeth.

"Is that really him?" Leela asks.

"That's his purest form. The real form of Kurama is a fox. You're used to seeing a red-haired man. This animal form and the demon form are his real forms. It probably won't be long until his kids are able to transform into their fox forms. They might be doing that now."

Hiei glides through the valley, creating a breeze with his long snake-like body, and climbs effortlessly closer to the sky. Leela holds on as tight as she can to the hair of his soft mane. He roars in a loud voice, waking all of the animals in the valley. The sun rises in the sky, as though startled by his mighty thunderous voice. Just then the land vanishes in front of Leela's eye and for an instant everything around her becomes pitch black.

Hiei nudges her again, this time with his hands. Leela opens her eye and finds herself back in the hospital room. "What a dream. Was I even asleep?"

"Your body was, but your spirit never sleeps. That land you saw was the Feudal Era, about 500 years in the past. We were where Tokyo is today."

"Why did I see Kurama there in the dream? Why was I even thinking of him?"

"Probably because he came by the room. He knew you were deep in the dream and knew I was piloting it. Creating dreams isn't a big deal for me. Many demons are able to do that, even the weakest ones."

"Where is the car? My liquid fabric is in the bag in the backseat."

"Out in the parking lot. That's one strange car. When I left the tower last night, I saw it just spring to life and follow me on its own. It even got here quicker than me. Is it self-piloting?"

"It's a robot. I asked it to come last night. I've got a treat for it at home. A nice 12-pack of beer, plus it has the Lou Chuu it never finished."

"You get it drunk? Can it fly while intoxicated?"

"Robots don't function well sober. Alcohol charges their fuel cells and they love the taste. I guess I'll just dress in what I have now and change into something clean when I get home. I've also have some rules. Is Yusuke around?"

"I think so. What…oh are the rules for him?"

"Partly. If someone looks strange or dangerous to you, don't shoot. Looks are very deceptive. There are strange-looking aliens, mutants, and robots living and working with humans. Besides if he decided to pick a fight with Zoidberg…"

"Oh yeah, that wimp. He barely exerts spirit energy at all. That'd be a one-sided fight ever."

"I said we could go to Mars to train. There's an extinct volcano to practice in. But there might be a few nosy robots wanting to see the training. And there are a few that are highly impressionable."

"Oh boy, I know where that leads. Just like with your friend, Bender."

Leela swerves her legs over the side of the bed and stands, letting her bare feet touch the icy tile. She winces at first, trying to overcome the freezing floor. She grabs her clothes, which she finds folded in an empty chair. "This is the most uncomfortable hospital room I've been in. This is so cramped and there are no windows. Feels more like a doctor's office than anything."

"Yeah well, Kurama had very few options. This was the best he could come up with on the spur of the moment. With so many bodies being rushed here from that damn explosion last night, this was all he could do. Botan will certainly be glad for a vacation after last night."

"How many…how many died last night?" Leela asks, leaning against the bed, dressing herself.

"About 60 people died. That band member was spared, but 60 was the toll so far."

"60!? I tried to save them all, Hiei. I didn't want anyone to die. Was what I did in vain by going there with Koenma?"

"I really can't say. I'm a demon, not a god. You're not a god either, but you've got guts and a heart. You put yourself in harm's way to try save people. You did save Kurama's life though, by telling him not to go to the concert. He was able to have his posse of demons there to watch over the place and he was able to create a decoy for the enemy. For all we know, if he had gone himself, as initially planned, then maybe that obituary column would have come true. He's considered your warning as payment enough for this room."


	24. Chapter 24

Leela finds her boots at the foot of the bed. "Finally I can get my feet off this cold floor and into these nice warm…there. Where's my wrist-thing?"

She searches the room frantically for it. "The flux-capacitor is in the thing, and I need that to get home."

"I see it. That watch of yours is right here beside the pillow." She quickly straps it on her wrist and walks towards the door. She pushes the door open when she feels a strong force open it from the other side.

"Oh Leela, you're up. I was coming in to wake you," startles Kurama.

"And I was trying to get out of here and find the ladies room."

"Just go down this hallway and there's a door with a girl symbol on it."

"Thanks," Leela dashes quickly towards the door. She flings it open and lets it swing behind her.

"So where in here all night, Hiei? It's unlike you to visit anyone at a human place like this."

"I gave her that dream with Ryuku and Notaku in it. She said the monk was scarier than the dragon. She was so scared, she kept screaming my name."

"Didn't she see you? I saw you transformed last night in that peace dream."

"I showed her what Mukuro, your friend, and what Raizen did, but I didn't have the heart to tell her. There was a girl that night. She was standing where Leela was. I saw Notaku approach her like that. I tried to rescue her, but Ryuku got there first and killed her. I was so weak back then. Back then, I was the one scared of Notaku. I was the one frozen, not knowing what either one would do. Notaku also had a taste for demonic flesh. I couldn't fight him. I was merely a D-class demon."

"Do you think Leela would be strong enough to handle those two, despite the monk being dead?"

"I hope so. If she trains really hard within this month, but I'm uncertain about it. Notaku has had 450 years to absorb Ryuku's almost endless supply of power. He might be stronger now than when he was still alive."

"We've got more S-class demons this time. Plus, she won't be alone fighting them."

"Yeah, I'm thinking if she would partner up with me, then…"

"With you? I can't believe you suggested that. How long have I known you, Hiei? You never want to partner with anyone. This would be a first for you."

"I just don't want her killed. She means everything to me."

"Obviously. You've changed, seems like almost since you met her."

Leela walks back from the restroom and stands outside the door, eavesdropping on the conversation. "I can't help it. The way I feel about her, Kurama, I want her with me. I love her. Leela's the sort of girl I want for a wife someday. I want her." Leela's tears start forming in her eye. "I thought I found that in Mukuro. But fate has sent this angel to me instead, or perhaps it was King Yama's doing. Whatever it was, I don't care. I just need her with me." Leela sniffs and the tears trickle down her face and chin.

'I love you too, Hiei. For once in my life I feel loved by a man unconditionally. You don't care if I have just one eye, or just want me for sex. But you want me because you love me.'

"Ma'am," asks a young black nurse walking by, "Are you all right? Why are you cryin'?"

"Someone in there says he wants me in his life. He's in love with me."

"Oh girl," laughs the nurse, "My husband tells me that every mornin' ever since our weddin' just a few weeks ago."

Leela wipes off her face and push opens the door to her temporary hospital room. "Are you guys ready?"

"Sure," ushers Kurama, "I'm certainly interested in that future world of yours. I know Yusuke's already interested, Mr. Scientist-want-to-be."

"Yeah right, scientist my ass," snorts Hiei, "I'll bet that moron didn't even touch a science textbook in school."

"Neither did Fry, and that's why he's an idiot. He also slept with his grandma when she was a young woman. Don't ask how, but he's now his own grandpa."

"He did that? Isn't that called cross-breeding?" asks Kurama. "So his father's father is him."

"I said don't ask how. That's a conundrum I'm not going to solve. But that's why he doesn't have the delta brainwave."

All three walk to the entrance of the hospital to the hover-car parked in front of the building. Leela sees Shizuru with a large suitcase.

"What do you have that for?" chuckles Leela, "You're just going to the future. It's not like your going to Hawaii or Australia."

"I kept telling you to carry something light, dear. You girls can go shopping in the stores in Leela's era."

"But that's what this is for. Stuff I can show off to Asuka Kutaro. I'll bet there are styles she's never seen," replies Shizuru.

"Right, my fashion queen, I'm sure you're not going to throw out any old stuff."

"My stuff isn't that old. Maybe I can have them ready for when Sakura gets older."

"Honey," laughs Leela, "You do what you want. We'll go shopping, eat at El Zar's, and hang out. Oh you'll love Macy's. It's got everything."

"Don't I know it," replies Hiei, "Gosh damn there were so much stuff. I've never seen such a huge store. Those damn carts fly you just about everywhere you want to go."

"Macy's isn't the only reason we're going to my home." Leela sees Yusuke drive up through the parking lot. She waves excitedly at him. He stops and power-rolls his window down. "Hey nice to see you, man. You too, Keiko."

"Wow, Leela, last time I saw you, you weren't looking so good. Today, it's like a complete 180."

"I've got something to tell you."

"Let me park first." He quickly finds a place a couple cars away from the hover-car.

Leela sees Botan land, looking bewildered. "No, Hinageshi, you can handle the rest."

"What happened to you? You look tired."

"What can you expect from picking up the number of lost souls from an explosion like that? The number of cases has gone to 75. And the number is growing. Maybe there was something in the bomb."

"I wasn't affected, except by the smoke, unless…" Leela closes her eye. "Maybe that's what almost killed me." She looks at Hiei and he turns his gaze towards the ground. "If I wasn't with Koenma, and he didn't act as quickly as he did…I'm sorry, if only I didn't go with him."

"Leela, stop with the what ifs," Hiei demands, "I don't want to relive it. I couldn't save my first love from death, I'll be damned if I lose you, too."

Finally the entire group gathers behind Leela's car. "Okay, we're leaving today. And Keiko packed smart."

"Yeah, sorry we're late. We were dropping the kids off at Grandma Atsuko's."

"Don't call her that. My mom is only in her mid 40s and she still has a problem with you calling her grandma. She thinks it refers to an old woman in a nursing home with false teeth and a walker."

"Now, that would be Mom from Mom's Friendly Robot Company," Leela smirks, "Okay, Yusuke."

"Call him Space Boy, he's been trying to act like an alien from an old movie we saw last night."

"Alright, Space Boy," Leela laughs, "When we get to my era…"

"I, Space Boy, will come in peace," Yusuke replies in a robotic tone, "Take me to your leader."

"Leela, don't encourage him," laughs Kurama.

"That goes double for you, Fox Man," Shizuru smirks, "Leela, these two are the worst kind of troublemakers you'll ever meet and be that much interested in talking to."

"In any case, Space Guy or Whatever, don't go pointing at people that look weird to you. Chances are people won't understand what you're doing, or what that stuff is coming out of your finger. Some might call it voodoo or witchcraft. And if a robot catches you, especially Bender, he'll want to mimic you."

"Would Bender succeed at it?" asks Yusuke.

"No. He'll try it, but after about five minutes he gives up, sits on the couch, drinks beer, and watches TV."

Leela pops open the hatches on both sides of the car and the trunk at the same time. "Whoops, I forgot your present was in here, Shizuru."

"You bought something for me? You shouldn't have."

"For your birthday next Saturday. You can wear it to one of my friends' weddings."

"Who's getting married?" asks Hiei.

"You've met her. Amy's marrying Kiff."

"Where's the wedding going to held?" asks Shizuru.

"Just at her parents' ranch."

"Where's that?" Shizuru pries.

"Oh no place really…just Mars."

"Oh just on…MARS!? We're going to Mars?"

"That's where we're going to spar, in an old crater of an extinct volcano. We might get some robotic spies, but mostly nobody will be using it."

"Do you want them to look?" asks Hiei.

"What and give some of Bender's friends wild ideas?"

"So, how do we all get in this clown car?" asks Yusuke.

"Hey watch what you say about me, loser," replies the car.

"Who said that? I'm not a loser," he sneers.

Leela laughs at him, "It's just the car. Bear with him, car. He doesn't understand you."

"Leela, you said we're going home, now."

"Yeah, it looks bigger on the inside."

"That is unless you're putting Zapp in here, Leela."

"I promise nobody here is as big as that oafish moron. Oh yeah, if you see that guy, Yusuke, you can blast him."

"That weakling has no spirit energy. That would be a huge waste," replies Hiei.

"Doesn't matter, he's target practice. Maybe Kiff could be the new captain of Earth. At least he's not a pig, just a kiss up."

The group piles into the car. Leela latches the doors and removes the flux-capacitor from her wristband. She looks at the backseat. "You see how big the back really is. You can sit two more in here, comfortably. You guys ready."

"Do we count down or what?" asks Yusuke.

"Do what you want. I'm almost home now." Leela starts the rocket boosters and zips off in the car.

"That was fast. Almost from a dead stop."

"Car, is the capacitor ready?"

"Yes ma'am, and the speed is increasing to 90 mph."

Instantly blue light engulfs the car and blasts through a small wormhole. "What was that strange light?" asks Kurama.

"That's what a wormhole looks like. It's very quick and instant, like the flash of a camera."

"Are we there yet?" asks Keiko.

"Yes we're there now," replies the car.

"I'm not used to talking cars. Wish my truck did that," Kurama laughs.

"Dear, if your truck talked to you, people would question. You'd be put in a nuthouse before long," Shizuru sighs.

Immediately the car whips into New New York and Leela pops the hood, letting it fold back instantly. "This thing is a convertible?" asks Botan, "Didn't know…oh my." Her eyes gaze over the urban landscape.

"Is this what New York looks like in the 31st century?" asks Kurama.

"You've said you've been here," replies Leela.

"Not to the 31st century though. What's with the tubes?"

"That's the new 'subway' system. Now if you want to get somewhere in the city, you ride in these." Leela flies the car across the city. Just then she receives a call on her car's phone.

She pops open the horn and sees Fry. "Hey, what's up?"

"Where have you been? The professor wants to see you now."

"I've only been gone one day, Fry."

"He's got a package to deliver for Slurm World. Cherry-flavored wompus berries."

"Yum, Cherry Slurm. See you in a few. Would you like to come with me?"

"I don't want to impose," replies Keiko.

"You won't. It'll be fun. Your first trip here and you get to go into space."

"Do we need to suit up?" asks Yusuke.

"Only if you plan on riding on the outside of the Planet Express ship. It's really not a big deal. You won't feel anything. It'd be no different then the ride you experienced just now going through the wormhole. The ship has artificial gravity and an anti-gravity pump for heavy worlds. Space travel is nothing. It'll be merely a couple hours between here and Slurm World, despite it being a million light years away."

"Let's go there, whoo hoo! Space time, hell yeah!" shouts Yusuke, jamming in his seat.

"That's enough out of you, Space Boy," reprimands Keiko.

"If he's going to be like that in Slurm World, then forget about Mars. I'm not taking kids," Leela replies in a fake snuff. She flies the car towards the Planet Express building and parks it on the curb. Leela pops open both hatches and everyone emerges out. Quickly the car recloses the hatches and flies off by itself.

"Where is it going?" asks Shizuru.

"Back to the apartment, it knows the route. Don't worry, if we need to head there ourselves, we'll hitch a ride in these tubes. One of the openings is right beside the entrance."

Leela presses a button to open the front door and escorts her friends inside. "Okay how do you open these doors without knobs?" asks Kurama.

"Ever been to a supermarket in the 21st century? The concept to these doors is the same." Leela steps forward and the first set of doors open automatically. "The same principle has been applied to all doors. They close automatically too, sometimes before you're all the way past it, so watch yourself around them." She leads her friends to the lounge area and sees Bender sitting in his usual place on the couch.

"Who are you and why should I care?"

"Bender, be nice alright. These are my friends from the 21st century."

"I'll be how I want to be. I'm programmed to be rude and not care."

Fry walks into the room. "Oh, Leela, there you are. I see you brought that guy back you like more than me. Who are these people? Since when are you this popular outside of work?"

"Fry, you called me to help deliver a package, remember?"

"It's not urgent. It just needs to be delivered to Slurm World. Are your friends coming?"

"Sure. It'll break you away from Earth."

"That would be sweet," chimes Shizuru, "I can one-up Asuka-san. She's never been into space, or to any other planets."

"Neither have you, baby," replies Kurama.

"Yeah but now I've got a chance against her."

"Cool, I always wanted to be an astronaut," replies Yusuke.

"What's an astronaut?" asks Leela.

"You know, space travelers who fly in shuttles. I've seen them on TV."

"Oh, you mean primitive space scientists. They don't exist anymore. Anyone with a spaceship or a hover-car can go into space and fly from planet to planet."

"Ow, that hurt," shouts Amy's voice from another room.

"But Amy, you need a shot before your wedding," replies Zoidberg's voice.

"That's next week. You broke the needle and it's in my arm." She walks into the room, covering her hand over the wound on her arm. "Ow ow ow, hey Leela, you're back."

"Hey Leela, you've got more humanoids with you this time," Zoidberg points.

"Oh, sorry. Please make yourselves comfortable. Bender, could you whip us up some of your delicious pancakes?"

"Will do." Bender stands up and heads for the kitchen. Amy sits on the couch, beside Bender's impression.

"Young lady, may I look at it?" Kurama asks in a soft voice, bowing to her.

"Hi, handsome," she replies in a seductive voice. "Wait, aren't you the guy from Leela's watch?"

"Hold your arm out straight. I can still see the needle head." He grabs hold of the needle with his fingers. "This might hurt a little." He pulls the needle out. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tube of antiseptic and gauze. "This ointment stings a little, but bear the pain. Your arm will feel better, shortly." Amy winces as the ointment is rubbed into her arm. Kurama then wraps the wounded arm with the gauze and bite the end off.

"Wow, that was awesome, Mister. Thanks. Why are you so good?"

"Kurama is a medical doctor," replies Shizuru, "Don't get too attached to him. I found him first."

"They're married, just like you'll be to Kiff," says Leela.

"Aw, that's not fair. You know two studs already, and you've got another one with you. Leela, why are you hogging such gorgeous men?"

"Amy, isn't it?" replies Keiko, "She's just friends with these guys."

"Hey we aren't 'just friends', Keiko," retorts Hiei.

"I didn't mean you. You're Leela's boyfriend. But Amy," she informs, while wrapping her arms around Yusuke, and patting him on the stomach with her hand, "This here is mine. I saw him first."

"So red-haired humanoid, you're a doctor too," chimes Zoidberg.

"That's right, lobster guy. You must be this Zoidberg Leela's told me so much about."

"Really, am I that famous? Of course I am. I'm the legendary Dr. John Zoidberg. You must have known me from medical school."

Fry sees Botan and walks up to her. "You look like Leela's sister. Except you've got blue hair and two eyes. Still, nice to meet someone as lovely as you."

"Oh stop, you must be Fry. Leela has told me so much about you."

"I'm Philip J Fry. But you can call me Fry, my dear."

"You didn't tell me he was this charming, Leela," Botan blushes, "He's nothing like your brother, Shizuru."

"Nope that's still Kazuma. The flirtatious, love-at-first-sight guy. That's still his double. This guy lacks spirit energy and muscles, but that's all that's different."

"She's right," sighs Leela.

"Hey don't compare me to some guy you know and I don't. Where is he?"

"Not here, back at home guarding my sister. He's got my son and their daughter to protect as well."

"Do you think Kasuku will go after them? Does Kuwabara stand a chance against him?" Leela asks.

"He probably could, I've asked Ashanti to assist him incase things get out of hand," replies Kurama.

"Who is this Kasuku anyways?" asks Fry, "Friend of yours?"

"Hardly," snorts Hiei, "He's one of the reasons we're here in this century. He and that bastard Sakyo are wanting to awaken a dragon and his undead companion to destroy all the humans. Kasuku almost killed Leela with that bomb at the Dome. Next time I see him, I'll run him through with my sword."

"Hiei, calm down, he doesn't know we're in this era, and if he did know, what can he do about it?" replies Leela. "Besides Kasuku isn't my biggest worry. Ryuku and Notaku are."

"Destroy all humans?" interrupts Bender, walking into the room, "Who is this man who wants to do that? Reel coo? Where is he? Can I meet him and shake his hand?"

"It's Ryuku and he's a dragon that eats humans. We need to get to him and Notaku before they get to the townspeople. Wait isn't Notaku dead?"

"He'll need souls in his body to sustain him," replies Botan with a sad voice, "Most likely Ryuku would kill and eat the flesh of the victims and Notaku will eat their souls. Those victims will never find peace in the afterlife. I just don't want to see an innocent person suffer like that." She shakes her head. "My job is to carry the dead to the other side. I hate my job sometimes, especially when it's someone I love and have become attached to. But if those two get out, not even the souls of the victims will be spared." Leela walks over to Botan and hugs her.

"It's true what Botan said," sighs Hiei, "I've witnessed these two back in the Feudal Era. It was so horrific. There were demonslayers at the time, some even powerful enough to fight dragons. But nothing could stop these two from raiding villages. I couldn't do anything to stop them. I was still too young and too weak."

"Koenma was powerless too. All he could do was salvage the souls of the victims. I saw it too, but I couldn't help. I don't want a repeat of the carnage I saw. Not now. I can't bear it. If last night was just the opening act…I don't want more to die." Leela walks Botan out of the room and holds her, letting her sob. Keiko follows them.

"So the situation is that dire," sighs Fry, "That's why you've all come here."

"Leela says there are virtual goggles, or something, to see what we're up against," replies Kurama.

"You were there at the same time I was, right?" asks Hiei.

"As Youko, yes but I was no more powerful than you at the time. I couldn't do anything. I did hear Yomi took care of them. He told me that himself."

"I remember, back when I was training with my father in Demon World, he told me about what he did to seal up Ryuku and Notaku. He said no matter what, never let those two escape. Their release would lead to destruction for both Human and Demon Worlds."

"That's why we're here in the era, Yusuke. Leela brought us here to train with very few interruptions," Kurama assures him, "I've given her Spirit Herb. Her powers will increase and so will her defenses. If she trains with that everyday, then she'll be able to oppose creeps like Notaku and Ryuku."

Botan walks back into the room, rubbing her eyes. "So that's why I saw you in Spirit World last night. I said hi to you but you weren't paying attention, like you were busy with something."

"I was in the Spirit World herb garden. So are you feeling okay now?"

"I'm fine now, still upset though. Leela's in the hallway with Keiko, bringing her up to speed on everything."

"I'm surprised Sakyo is still in the world of the living. I thought I saw him die, myself in that inferno. He waved at me and stuff fell down on him."

"Koenma thought so too, but then Leela asked for the videotape of the incident. You can watch it yourself. There was a trapdoor under the rubble. As the stadium collapsed on him, he made his escape and has been in hiding for 14 years."

"What's the motive? Why is Kasuku after you and Sakyo after Genkai? Doesn't make sense. If it was to get them out of the shrine, why wait and just do it 14 years ago?" asks Yusuke.

"Revenge is my guess. Family matters turning ugly. I don't know if you realized this, Notaku and Seiki were brothers. Sakyo is the descendant son of Notaku, just like Genkai is the daughter of Seiki."

"He is? So Genkai and Sakyo are cousins separated by a 500-year-span generation and a 60-year gap in age. That still doesn't explain why he wants Genkai dead now," ponders Yusuke, "Especially when he had the opportunity back on Anonek Island when she died back then."

"The reason those two couldn't make a move was because the three kings were still alive. If even one was still in power or alive, then the move to extract Ryuku was thwarted," informs Hiei, "But now they have another problem. Back when those two were still roaming the Earth, the three kings were in their prime. All of them were S-class and Super S-class demons. But that was all there was. Just those three and Seiki. Those four united their powers into one and it was just enough to suppress the dragon and evil monk. Notaku's powers were stolen by his brother."

"Oh so there are more now? Like…me?" Yusuke asks.

"There are at least six demons and three humans that are super powerful. I know both you and your brother, Shizuru, are able to fight off Notaku. I remember Touya telling me how you defeated those lizard girls in the restroom."

"I know those two won't be just it. They'll summon other demons towards town, giving them a nice feast."

"Hey, Amy?" Yusuke asks, "Sorry for breaking this conversation but may I use your bathroom?"

"Oh sure," Amy points towards the automatic doors leading into the bathroom, "Just press the button to the side of the door."

"Thanks," he replies.

"I guess I'll use it too before going into space," sighs Shizuru.

"There is one on the Planet Express ship, you know," informs Amy.

Leela and Keiko return to the room with the professor following behind them.

"Bad news," Farnsworth reports with a sad voice, "the Slurm Queen hates the taste of cherries."

"Why is that so bad?" asks Fry.

"I don't know. But Good News, there's another delivery to the Slurm Planet with orange-flavored wompus berries."

"Cherry flavors make her gassy anyways," informs Leela, "That would make the Slurm stink."

"Are these new crew members, Leela? I don't remember hiring you people."

"No, Professor they're my new friends I've told you about."

"New friends, that's great. Yes, new friends."

"Oh so Leela meets new people and makes friends with…where are you from? New New York or is it Los Angeles?" asks Zoidberg, "Hey are you trying to cut in on my Uncle Zoidfarg? You are. I knew it."

"Who the hell is that?" asks Hiei.

"Zoidberg, they're from the 21st century. The majority of my friends live and work in Tokyo, Japan," explains Leela, "Since most of you are in here, I'll introduce you." She sees Yusuke enter the room.

"What took you so long?" asks Hiei, "What did you do, piss out a waterbed?"

"No, that's just the strangest room I've seen. It's all automatic."

"That's the way things are here, Yusuke. The majority of stuff in the year 3007 is either robotic or computer-programmed. You'll be more impressed throughout the day," replies Leela. "So I'll start with…well you already met my boyfriend, Hiei. So we'll skip you."

"Hey, that's not nice," he retorts, pretending to be hurt.

"Deal with it. That man sitting next to Amy is Kurama."

"Oh nice, I like you handsome," Amy smiles in a sensual voice, "Amy Wong, by the way. Come up to my parents' ranch on Mars sometime."

"Amy, we're going to be there anyways for your marriage to Kiff. Which means…who did you invite?"

"Well Zapp insisted on going. My parents wanted him as Kiff's best man."

"Zapp again." Leela rolls her eye, "That guy never gives up. I suppose you told him I was coming too."

"That's why he insisted."

"Come on, you young punks, you can talk about yourselves later," orders the professor, "The orange-flavored berries aren't going to fly themselves."

"Let me use the bathroom first," sighs Shizuru, "The coffee I drank for breakfast wants out now."

"Where is this space ship? Is it anything like a shuttle?" asks Yusuke.

"What those primitive things? No way," smirks the Professor, "Who uses them anymore?"

"They are used for fueling stations, anymore. Some shuttles have been recycled into robots. My car, for instance, has thick layers of heat-resisting tiles," explains Leela.

"I'm back and ready to leave," announces Shizuru, "I had just enough time to sit down."

"That's just what happened to me at the hospital. I found the stall and the pot just in time. Next time I need to go to the hospital, find me a room with a built-in bathroom, Kurama."

"That was the best I could do at the time. You made it, didn't you? So stop complaining."

The group follows the professor to the conference room and towards the hanger. "Is that it? The spaceship?" asks Yusuke, "That's impressive."

"This is the second time I've seen this thing and I'm still impressed," replies Hiei, "Leela and I practiced here the other day in this hanger."

"You guys sparred here?" asks Kurama, "Doesn't look like it. Nothing's destroyed."

"We only went 50 mph, and I held back. This stuff looks expensive and it's not mine."

"Oh shut up, Hiei, like you care for material prices of stuff," retorts Leela, "The real reason is this hanger is too small. The best place to spar here is right outside on the bay."

"I noticed the bay too," replies Yusuke. "Maybe we can practice there too."

"That might be an option," confirms Leela, "We don't have to be confined to Mars. Maybe we can do that on Slurm World."

"You can also practice on my home planet," announces Zoidberg, "My people love good fights."

"Are there any new rulers there, Zoidberg? Last time I checked, the last ones died."

"That was just the breeding group. The new lobsters are ruling it now."

"The Decapod 10 isn't far from Slurm World. Perhaps we can spar after this quick delivery."

"Yea, I love seeing Claw-Plaugh," cheers Zoidberg, "especially when it's not my gonads on the line."

Leela's friends and crewmembers board the ship, leaving the professor behind. "Find a seat here. There are plenty. When we're launching and landing, that's when you sit."

"I don't need a seat. I'm fine," replies Bender.

"Yes and that's why you get wanged a lot," rebukes Leela. Leela sits in the pilot seat and starts the rocket boosters.

"Set cruise for Slurm Planet. Speed one million light years. Yusuke what are you nervous about?"

"That's how fast we'll go? For real?"

"Relax, you won't feel a thing. When traveling in space, it'll feel like you're sitting in a parked car. Outside the ship, you would feel it. But in here, you've got artificial gravity and oxygen. You feel as if you're walking around on the Earth, still." The spacecraft zips off into the sky. "I'm just going to get the ship away from the gravitational pull of the Earth." Leela flies the ship between the Earth and moon and heads away from the sun.

"Now the coordinates and the speed are set, the ship is set on autopilot. Yusuke, do you feel anything now?"

"Not really, is okay to move."

Leela stands up and walks around the deck. "See, no big deal. This is what I do for a living. I'm the pilot and captain of this ship. Feel free to move around. Just don't go outside."

"Wow so this is space," Kurama says in amazement. "Tokyo University has a planetarium. I take the kids to see it. But there's nothing like seeing space like this."

"Wow so, how close are we to Mars?" asks Yusuke. "Is that it straight ahead?"

"Honey," sighs Keiko, "I'm surprised you passed Earth Science at all. Since when does Mars have rings?"

"Saturn has rings…oh…WOW!"

Shizuru presses her hands on the glass and stares with wonder in her eyes, feeling like a kid in 'The Magical School Bus'. "Kurama, did you bring a camera? This is something to show Asuka."

"I did but damn I left it in the trunk."

"You don't need to worry," replies Amy, "There are on-board cameras throughout the ship."

Leela walks towards Hiei, watching his eyes becoming fixated on the speed of the ship and the array of stars all around him. "The first time you said you've been to almost every star in the galaxy, I thought it was a metaphor for love. But now I'm seeing them like this, you really meant what you said. In my whole life, I didn't think I'd see the stars this close. Not for a million years."

"I've got a room aboard this ship I use for longer journeys. It's quiet and we could use some time to ourselves." Leela glances over at Kurama holding Shizuru in his arms, as she leads Hiei to her cabin.

"See, you can still see space out the window here." The door latches automatically behind the two, and Leela invites Hiei to sit on her bed.

"This is the most pleasant thing I've seen, Leela. It's so magical up here. You really fly through space everyday." He relaxes his hand and lays it on her hand.

"Just about. This is routine for me."

"Flying the ship or kissing the man you love?"

"Both, although I like the kissing job instead."

Hiei starts kissing her and she flops backward on the bed. "What are thinking about?" she asks.

"Do you want to? We're in a spaceship in the middle of space."

"I've done it once in space, but that was with Zapp and I regret that."

"But I'm not Zapp. I just love you, Leela." He kisses her on the neck, while slipping his hand under her shirt and bra. "How long is it to that planet you're visiting?"

"We've got just a couple hours. It's 8:30 AM in Earth time. We'll be there almost by 10:00."

"An hour and a half, that's enough time." He slips both the tank top and bra off her upper torso. He uses his cape-coat to conceal her naked body, as he slips her pants off.

"You're about to put me under. I'm supposed to get this ship docked in an hour."

"But the ship is docked," he replies, kissing her neck.

"I don't mean you, and this is the best sex in space I've had. Oh well, we've still got an hour."

"I thought it was an hour and a half."

"But baby, I need to land the spaceship right," Leela stretches her arms out and draws his face towards hers and kisses him.

"I guess we could finish up here and get back to the deck, but…it feels too good to stop."

"I know it does. We can go back to this spot on the return trip to Earth."

Leela rests her head on the pillow. "You want to just lay here for awhile? We can look out this window if you want."

"What planet is this? It looks like Earth, but…"

"That's Slurm Planet. Which means we've arrived." Leela sits up and finds her bra and shirt. She quickly slips them on. "Come on, get dressed."

Leela slides her pants back on and steps into her boots. Hiei redresses too and follows her out to the front deck of the ship. "Leela, here's your hair-thing and watch."

"Thank you. Listen up, everyone," she announces, "We're heading into the Slurm Planet's gravitational field. Find a seat. I'm going to tell you I'm great at lifting off, but landing can be tricky." Leela walks to the pilot seat and takes the controls. "When we get out on the surface, remember we are aliens here. This world has these huge slug-like creatures called worms. The leader is Glurmo."

Leela activates the landing gear and braces the ship against the planet's atmosphere. Leela spots a landing pad on the Slurm's home surface and touches down. "Fry, Bender, go to the dock and lower the floor. The rest of you come with me, if you're interested in visiting your first alien world."

"I'm there," announces Yusuke, "Show me an alien."

"And do what to him?" asks Kurama, "They aren't demons like us. I don't even sense any demonic aura here at all."

"Maybe not, but the Queen can be deadly if she's angered and shoot slurm at you," informs Leela. She walks towards the dock door and emerges out, with her friends following her.

"Is this what an alien world looks like?" asks Botan, "Looks just like one of the desert areas in Demon World."

"I agree," Hiei replies, "This looks just like home. So we traveled to the future and flew a gazillion miles from Earth to find a place that looks like Demon World."

"That's basically it. You think because you've seen 'Lost in Space' or 'Star Wars', you know what an alien world looks like? Most planets in reality are very similar to Earth."

Leela walks to the front gate of the Slurm Factory and rings the bell. "What do you want?" answers a hoarse, tightened voice.

"I've got the package you ordered. Orange wompus berries."

"Aw, yes. I'll open the gates for you. Bring them to the back. Hold on…oh never mind, we don't want you to see the newest construction area."


	25. Chapter 25

"So, Leela, are we going in, or what?" asks Keiko.

"Sometimes Glurmo can be stubborn. He confuses himself." "Hey, Glurmo, does the Queen really want the berries or not?"

"Yes, fine. Okay, dear, as you requested. You don't want people staring at you. It's not because they think you're big and ugly."

"This is starting to sound like the couple I'm working with now," chuckles Shizuru, "She's as big as a cow and yells at her husband. She's embarrassed about her appearance and bitches at him, sometimes even in the office."

"What do you do?" asks Amy.

"I'm a marriage counselor. Hang on, Leela. Can I talk to him?"

"Do whatever."

"Yeow," she hollers, "Glurmo."

"What do you want?"

"Mrs. Queen Worm. You aren't fat or gross. He just loves you, that's all."

"She says you're lying."

"Tell her you bought her Orange-flavored berries to show how much you care for her. Do you love her?"

"Yes. I've got Orange Wompus berries for you dear. We can clone them and harvest them here, just for you. I love you. You're a pretty worm. Oh now look at what you did, you made her cry." The gates open. "Come on in, stranger, she wants to meet you."

Glurmo slides out of the factory door and greets the guests at the gate. "Sorry about that, folks. She's been in a snit all day." The worm swerves his eye stocks around searching for his stranger.

"Which one of you made the Queen cry?"

"Sir, it was me," Shizuru bows.

"I don't remember you. Oh right you're one of the humanoids with Planet Express. Did Farnsworth hire you, Miss?"

"No I don't work…" Shizuru looks at Leela with a confused expression, "Did I just counsel him?"

"Just go along with the newly hired thing. Glurmo won't know the difference. All he has to know is you're from Earth and that's it. You'll get that on the Mud Planet as well."

"You're a counselor, commoner? Follow me."

Suddenly there is an earthquake and something shakes the mountain in the back. A huge towering worm shakes the ground around it. "Oh, Queen, I thought you wanted them to come to you."

"You don't know how ugly I am. Nobody here I recognize and I must be all fat and ugly to them."

"Come on now, your highness," Kurama bows to her, "You're the prettiest worm I've ever seen. Sure you're big and bulging, but that's what you beautiful."

"You're just saying that, little man," she blubbers, "I'm hideous and you know it."

"He speaks the truth, Madam," Shizuru looks up at her, "My husband wouldn't lie to you. He's a lady-killer and lady-charmer."

"I thought he was a doctor," whispers Fry.

"He's also a fox demon that likes women," she replies. 'Even if they are very obese sky-scraping worms,' Shizuru whispers to herself through her grit teeth.

"What was that, woman?" the Queen snaps at Shizuru.

"Nothing, I'm confirming with what my husband told you. And he's telling the truth, you are beautiful."

"Hang on a second," Leela closes her eye for a few minutes, "Are you guys pregnant? Your highness?"

"She looks like that," replies Kurama, "Sometimes women feel insecure about their size when they're expecting." "Madam, may I feel your stomach?" She rolls her massive front up and shows it to him. He reaches slowly and feels her slimy skin with his hands.

Shizuru grimaces, watching him touch the Queen's bulgy slimy body. "I feel hardness all over your stomach. It feels you're having a baby."

'How can you tell, dear? She's very big and fat. You're just guessing,' Shizuru thinks.

'I know, but my pregnancy kit is at home and I'm not going to bring a 20-ton alien worm to my office,' he replies in thought, wearing a fake smile.

"Wow, thank you, little man. Wow more children to work for me," the Queen cheers loudly. She turns and crawls away, boasting. "More for me. More for me, because a strange commoner told me so," she chants, "Glurmo, be a good dear and bring me the berries."

"See you later, Glurmo," chimes Leela, "Congrats on that new baby of yours." "Time to head for Decapod 10." Leela scurries back onto the ship. Kurama tries to shake the worm slime from his hands.

"What am I going to do with this goop? It's not coming off."

"There's a washroom on the ship with slime-repelling soap," informs Leela.

"So did you read her mind?" asks Hiei.

"I can't, especially when worms don't have real brains. I was guessing to make her feel better." Leela makes her way to the front deck and climbs back into the pilot seat. "Is everyone on board?"

"Aye aye, Captain," confirms Fry.

"Confirming with him, Leela," replies Yusuke.

Leela launches the ship and flies it through the atmosphere and back out into space.

"Are we going to my home now?" asks Zoidberg.

"Of course. That was the other point of coming out here. It's only a short million miles from here."

"How is that short?" asks Botan.

"Just is. That makes it about an hour from here." "Hey, Zoidberg, is it mating season yet?"

"Not now. Why?"

Leela smiles and stands up from her seat. "Hey, Botan do you want to declare it?"

"Girl Time," Botan announces.

"Amy, you can join us up in my room."

"Why, what's going on?" she asks.

"It's a little club we've got that excludes the guys," replies Leela, "Botan, Shizuru, and Keiko invented the club."

"Yukina's not here though," sighs Keiko.

"We'll just make do," answers Leela. The girls follow her into the cabin.

"What's your plan now, Leela?" asks Shizuru.

"Amy, could you reach into my closest for five bathing suits?"

"Bikinis or one pieces?"

"Which do you like?" Leela asks.

"Do you have bikinis that hide stretch marks?" asks Keiko, "After having two kids, you get some marks that don't disappear as quickly as you like."

"I'm with you," replies Shizuru, "It's been four years now and they've just now faded away."

"You can make the bikini hide anything embarrassing on you," informs Leela. Amy hands her a spray can. "This is where your swimwear comes from."

"That's a paint can," says Botan.

"No, it's liquid fabric. The very instant you spray it on your body, it becomes like regular fabric. If we go back to Earth and go shopping for swim stuff at Macy's or something, this is what you see on the shelf.

"Does it bind to your skin?" asks Keiko.

"No, look I'll demonstrate." Leela removes her top and bra and sets them on the bed. She pops the lid off the can and sprays pink fabric around her breasts and back. She sprays a line across each of her shoulders. "See nothing to it." Leela touches the fabric of the pink bra with her fingers and shows nothing on them. "Instant drying time."

"Let me try," chimes Botan. Amy hands Leela a can with blue irises on the lid. Botan removes her shirt and unhinges her bra.

"I'll help you like you did with my first kimono," smiles Leela. Leela shakes the can and sprays the fabric on Botan's breasts and around to her back.

"That feels cold and it tickles," she giggles.

"It's not sticking to your skin?" asks Keiko.

"No look." Botan slides the top over her chest and exposes her breasts. "See, it's nothing." She refits the top back over her chest.

"Why are you wanting us to change into bikinis?" asks Shizuru, "Is it to impress our men?"

"The surface of Decapod 10 is just one huge beach front and ocean. Answer me this, you're a million light years from Earth with a planet like Hawaii, what do you do? How often are you going to sunbathe on a beach away from Earth?"

"You have a point there," laughs Shizuru, "Good way to impress Asuka. I'll bet she's never sunbathed on an alien world."

"You can also tell her about counseling a pair of alien worms," laughs Botan.

"That's pushing it," she smirks back. She holds out her hand to Amy and takes a spray can from her.

"Aw damn it," Leela sneers, looking out the window, "It's the Nimbus. Quick, spray this stuff on and redress. She quickly removes her pants and sprays. Leela opens the door and searches for Fry. "Hey could you take the pilot seat for me?"

"Sure. By the way, the Nimbus is approaching the ship."

"I know that. That's why I need you to pilot the ship."

"He's a pilot too?" asks Botan.

"Fry's been flying the ship for some time, now. Most likely when I was still in your era, training under Genkai since May, he was flying the ship to places."

"Hey, why are we in a hurry to get dressed?" asks Keiko.

"Because, according to Leela, the captain of that ship, Zapp Branaggan, makes even Kazuma seem like Einstein by comparison," replies Shizuru.

"My Kiffy is on there too," Amy sighs in a dreamy voice.

"Oh wow, your fiancé?" asks Botan, "What's he like? Is he like Zapp too?"

"No, Kiff's okay. He's a yes-man, but he's quiet and very shy," confirms Leela. Suddenly the ship shakes.

"Hey Captain? I've tried avoiding him, but he's snagged us with the pincher," announces Fry.

Leela sighs and presses a button beside the bed. "Everyone on deck, now."

"Leela, are we meeting that idiot of yours?" asks Yusuke over the intercom.

"Unfortunately, yes." Leela sighs and glances between Keiko and Shizuru, "I guess the club time is over for now." Leela saunters her way out of the room and towards the front deck of the ship.

Amy sees Kiff and runs to embrace him. "Is this the famous Kiff?" Keiko smiles, looking at his green, rubbery skin, "He's adorable Amy."

"Why thank you ma'am," he replies timidly.

"Polite too," Keiko laughs.

Shizuru looks at a fat blond man standing next to Kiff and studies him. "Well well well, if it isn't the lovely Leela and she's brought friends. Take notes Kiff, watch as I seduce Leela and her lady friends here."

"You will do no such thing," sneers Yusuke, "Keiko is my girl, and I'll make you pay if you attempt anything with her."

"Yusuke, don't start a fight," sighs Keiko.

"If he wants you, he's got to get through me first."

"She's right," sighs Kurama, "The guy is full of it anyways. He's got the spirit energy of a fly. You were right, Hiei. He's not worth fighting."

"What are you guys scared of the mighty Zapp?" Zapp challenges them. "Yo, Red Hair, you don't look tough to me at all. I've beaten guys just like you."

"Zapp, what Kurama means is you are the weakest guy on this ship," sighs Leela, "These three gentlemen beat up guys that are as tough and as mean as Emperor Lrrr. And that's on a daily basis."

"Don't count yourself out, Leela-san," Hiei smiles, looking at her, "Didn't you kill those monkey demons yesterday?"

"On the way to Genkai's? That was fun. And rounding up the pig demons before they reached town. But, those stupid pigs went and ruined the sparring match you, Yusuke," Leela grumbles.

"Hey wait, we can do that on Zoidberg's planet. Hey Fry-kun, how far is the planet from here?"

Fry pulls the ship out of the Nimbus and resets the route. "We'll be there in less than 15 minutes.

"Yea, I'll call down there," cheers Zoidberg. Fry lowers the chat window and connects it to the Decapod 10's palace.

"Zogfish, is that you?"

"Zoidberg, nice to see you again. How long has it been?"

"I see they made you emperor now."

"What's the sudden home coming, John? The mating season isn't for so many years yet."

"I know, I've just got two humanoid buddies interested in Claw-Plagh."

"Are they going to watch it?"

"Even better, they're going to fight each other."

"Two humanoids in Claw-Plagh? Wonderful. ATTENTION…" Zoidberg cuts off the transmission. Fry quickly docks the ship on a landing pad on the endless beach.

A female lobster runs up to greet Zoidberg as he and his friends depart from the ship. "Lucille, you're looking as hideous as whale barf. How have you been?" he smiles, giving her a hug.

"I feel great. You know how to charm a lady, John. You used to say the same things to my mother, Edna."

"How is she?"

"She's doing great for someone who's dead."

"What is this about?" asks Botan, "What kind of greeting is this? My mother's dead and doing great?"

"Don't ask," Leela sighs, "Just go with it. This is how fish people greet each other."

"So what is Claw-Plagh?" asks Yusuke.

"It means they fight each other in an arena. It's a very elaborate fight. Sometimes it's meant for two lobster males to fight for a female to mate with. We can use it as an excuse to spar. I want to test the herb that Kurama gave me last night."

"Are you going to warm-up first?"

"Sure. Hey Zoidberg, you know where the arena is. Anyone who can't fly, go with him," commands Leela.

"By 'fly' how do you…?" Zapp starts to ask as Leela leaps into the air and lands on top of the spaceship, followed close behind by Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke.

"Can I hitch a ride with you, Botan?" asks Shizuru. Botan produces her oar as she floats in midair. Shizuru sits on the paddle and grasps the shaft with her hands.

"What about you, Keiko?" asks Botan.

"I'm going with Amy and Zoidberg."

"We can fly too," replies Amy, as she pulls a folded jetpack from her pocket.

"That's okay, Amy. Leela and those boys need to practice anyways. We'll all be at the same spot."

"Don't worry, you two. I've got a hover-car here," replies Lucille.

"Wow, Leela, you've got a great stride here," comments Yusuke, "Like I said at Grandma's, you move like a cat. Just how fast are now?"

"These days, I'm up to 400 mph."

"With the stuff I gave you, you'll go faster than that."

"Seriously, Kurama. Like how?"

"At least between 800 to 1000 mph."

"Holy shit, that's fast!" Leela gasps.

"You want to practice now? Hiei, will you race her to that stadium?"

"Can he really race at that speed?"

"You want to find out, Leela?"

"You've never been here. How do you know where the stadium is?"

Hiei stands on top of a palm tree and scours the landscape. Leela stands on another tree near him. He points into the direction of a bowl-shaped structure. "Isn't that it?" She stares in the direction he's pointing.

"That wooden and mud structure is it. What's the point of racing if we're only halfway there?"

"Are you scared that you can't beat me?" Hiei smirks.

"I was about to ask you that," challenges Leela with a gleam in her eye.

She stands ready for Hiei's signal. He pops a fire blast into the air and the two zip off towards the structure. "Do you think those two guys will be able to keep up with us?"

"You needn't worry. That little flame creates a trail like breadcrumbs. Anyone with spirit awareness can pick it up. Besides if those fools aren't able to keep up, your lobster friend is leading them to the place. Kurama can pick up that creature's stink with his sensitive nose."

Leela smiles with a mean glint in her eye. "What's that look for?" he smirks back.

"I just had the thought of the fight. I'm running scenarios in my head. Nobody from this era has seen a speed fight with spirit powers."

"And knock the pants off Zapp?"

"What pants? He doesn't wear pants. His wang is nearly exposed."

"I've noticed," Hiei grimaces, "Kuwabara doesn't do that. At least he's got standards and a damn honor code that doesn't allow him to look like that. Plus he's not hung like that lard-o."

The two of them approach the battle arena. Leela notices a large crowd of lobsters pouring into the stadium. "This must be a high-lighted event for these creatures," Hiei comments.

"Yeah, Claw-Plagh is like blurnsball or baseball in the 21st century. It's a big turn out. Can't wait to show these lobsters Claw-Plagh with a Japanese twist." Leela lands on the top of the stadium, with Hiei seconds behind her. "And I beat you."

"I thought you weren't racing."

Leela shrugs her shoulders. Leela watches the stadium filling up. "Hey do you want to spar?"

"I thought you were going to wait for Yusuke."

"They're not here yet, and I want to practice. I've been working on a new technique similar to Spirit Bomb. Spirit Lance is what I've trying to master through Genkai's training. I think with that herb, it'll be stronger." Leela puts her fists together and glides them apart, producing an energy lance.

"Sweet. You do that better then Kuwabara does."

Leela leaps to the ground, at the center of the arena, and stands just above the muddy surface. She entices him and he withdraws his sword. He zips to the ground and pits his sword against her lance. Leela slides her hand over the lance and creates a two-sided blade.

"You can change blades like that?"

"I would like to try it against Ryuku. I need practice."

"You really want to know something, the herbs Kurama gave you are merely enhancers. The reality is you're getting stronger on your own. The major reason the herbs work is your own spirit energy is making them work. Every time you train with the powers, you increase yourself that much more." Leela races him around the arena, slashing her lance at him. She meets his blade and springs backward. She flies forward and clashes the lance with his katana. "Try avoiding this." He slices his sword towards her, almost cutting her in half, when she dodges at the last second and leaps onto the blade and dashes backward. "Nice reflexes, girl. You're going to need that when fighting Ryuku."

"I thought you were going to handle him."

"Yes and you can assist me. But you need power behind the attack, otherwise you're as powerful as Zapp against him."

"That's it, Hiei. You're ass is mine. How dare you compare me to him!" She zips forward and slashes at him, with more energy exerted. Suddenly she comes to a halt in the center of the ring.

"What did you stop for? It's only been fifteen minutes. Are you tired already?" Hiei looks at her then follows her gaze to the top of the stadium. He sees a lobster dressed in a long red and white robe staring at them from the center bleachers.

"Aren't you Leela?" the lobster asks.

"Who's this self-important creature?" Hiei asks her.

"I am Emperor Zogfish, human."

"How dare he compare…"

"Chill it, Hiei. They don't know you're a demon just like they don't know I'm a mutant."

"Emperor Zogfish, these are my good friends," reassures Zoidberg, as he approaches the king, "She's one of the humanoids I told you who's fighting Claw-Plagh."

"Is he the other one?" asks the king.

"No, that's her practice partner."

"He's good. Young man, you want to join my army someday."

"I'll pass, but thanks for the offer," Hiei replies, sheathing his sword. Leela releases her grip on the lance, returning the power to her body.

"What was with that tornado in here?" asks Zapp, "When did you get here, Leela?"

"I've been here this whole time. We were sparring, waiting for you to show up."

"Zapp, that's just what Claw-Plagh looks like in Japanese-style," Kurama replies, resting his arm on the captain's shoulder, "Now I don't know what you saw, but I thought Leela was brilliant fighting my best friend like that."

"Dear, don't encourage the man," sighs Shizuru.

"Come on, you've seen him fight like that. Miss Leela being able to keep up with his speed is even more impressive, especially with her being human."

"I don't get how Leela is like that now. What happened to her back in your era?" asks Fry, "Do you have a huge case of Miracle Cream?"

"No, that's her own power," explains Botan, "My boss, Koenma, has the ability to channel a person's spirit energy and use it in battle. Then one of my friends, Genkai, is a martial arts master who trains people's spirit energy. She's been doing that for 70 years."

"Since Leela is a master already," explains Keiko, "it wasn't as hard for her to get this strong. It's amazing how she's learned to use spirit energy in just a couple of months. It took my husband six-to-eight months to learn this. Of course he was a 14-year-old kid back then."

Fry watches Leela stand in the ring, waiting for her next opponent. "What's happening now?" He sees Yusuke walk out and stand next to Leela.

"She's done with fighting Hiei. That was the opening act. Next, it'll be her against Yusuke. She's so lucky," smiles Kurama.

"Aren't you going to fight her, Kurama?" asks Keiko.

"I might. I want to watch her against Yusuke first."

"Yeah," replies Hiei from behind them, "That dumbass has a real fight on him."

"I didn't see you come up here, as usual," laughs Kurama.

"He was just down there a second ago," replies Fry, "How did he get up here just like that?"

"Deal with it, Fry," laughs Keiko, "That's just the way Hiei is. Both he and Leela are the fastest people here."

"Isn't you're husband fast too?" asks Amy.

"Yusuke's fast, but his abilities aren't speed-related. He's the one who's great at spirit-power fighting and mortal combat style. Hand-to-hand is his specialty."

"I train at hand-to-hand myself. I go to martial arts school everyday," replies Amy.

"Well, I guess you'll really appreciate this then," says Keiko. "Hey Yusuke and Leela," she hollers, "Remember, don't destroy this place. You're just here to spar. You don't have the money to pay for a ruined stadium."

"What do you mean, lady?" asks Zogfish, "This place has reinforced mud walls. It would take a 10-ton bulldozer to tear down these walls."

"Sir, she's has the right to make that rule," informs Kurama, "This man has the ability to destroy an entire mountain with his powers. I've seen him do it. And even though I've only known Leela since May, her power is steadily increasing and she's becoming equally strong."

A lobster referee approaches Leela and Yusuke. The referee carries with him a large box containing a sword, a spiky ball, and a shell cracker. "Choose which you want to wield?"

"I'm fine," replies Leela, "I'll just be using my hands."

"What about you, sir?" he asks.

"None thanks. Same as her, we'll fight with just our hands."

"That's it? Just with your hands? That won't be much of a fight. Silly humanoids and your ways."

"So is it speed you want?" asks Leela.

"Naw, I really want to see your moves. I want to see what you've learned from that old hag. Although I did like watching you fight Hiei. Where did that sword come from? Looked very similar to Kuwabara's."

"I've been trying a new technique. Spirit Lance is my latest move."

"So in addition to Spirit Bombs, you have that too. You might be worthy to become one of Koenma's hired-hands."

"He's actually said there is a second-in-command job if I'm interested."

"Spirit Lieutenant? That's a better job than just the detective one. You get to hire spirit detectives and assign cases for them. You've also got the ability to work cases yourself. Both that Seiichi case and this Ryuku one weren't assigned to anyone. You just happened upon them and moved on your own accord. Becoming a spirit lieutenant would definitely take a great weight off of Koenma's shoulders."

Emperor Zogfish stands in his seat and raises his arms. "Welcome all to Claw-Plagh. Ladies and gentlefish, this match will have these two Earthicans fighting each other. Turonga Leela vs. who…?" Keiko whispers to the king. "Yusay…Utake...Oosake."

"Can't he get my name right?" Yusuke shrugs, looking at Leela.

"Sire, his name is Yusuke Urameshi," Leela shouts at him.

"Alright, it's whatever Leela said. Let the Claw-Plagh commence. After the national anthem of course."

"Oh great, more delays," Yusuke sighs.

"Sire, is the anthem really necessary? I want to fight now," Leela shouts.

"Oh fine, be that way," sighs the king, sitting back on his throne.

"Don't go easy on me, because I'm a girl," Leela smirks, sizing him up.

"I wasn't planning on it." He starts powering up and expels his energy around the stadium.

"Why didn't you say you were going to do that?" Leela powers herself up and pushes his energy to the halfway point.

"You have gotten more powerful since our last fight. This should be interesting."

"What's going on? Why is it suddenly hot in here?" asks Zapp, fanning himself, "Did someone leave an oven on somewhere?"

"They're the ones creating the heat," answers Hiei, "And Leela's very strong now. She's pushing my friend's energy to the diameter of this arena."

"They're turning my shell red, that they are," complains Zoidberg, "It's like I'm in a boiling pot."

Suddenly the energy dissipates and the air is cooled again. "Is that it?" asks Fry.

"Hardly," laughs Kurama, "That was just the beginning. Hey ref guy," he hollers down, "Better get out of there now before you get yourself killed."

"There's no way out of here, sir," he hollers back, pointing his claw to the charred remains of a ladder.

"Hang on." Kurama grabs a palm leaf from his seat and transforms it into a long thick rope. He flings it towards the referee and twirls it around the lobster's waist.

"Where the hell did you get the rope, Red Hair?" asks Zapp.

"He must have grabbed a palm leaf off one of the trees on his way in," answers Shizuru, "My husband has the ability to control plants."

"Aw, you're so lucky," pouts Amy, "Wish I knew a guy with that ability. And him being a hottie is no fair either."

"But Amy, you're guy is cute too. Plus he loves you," reminds Keiko.

"She's right. You love him too, don't you?" asks Botan.

Amy side squeezes Kiff and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Kurama yanks on the rope and flings the referee out of the ring, smacking him against Zoidberg, knocking both lobsters to the floor. "Ow, what was that for?" complains the ref.

"Just be grateful you're up here and out of harm's way," sighs Shizuru.

"What's the big deal anyways? I've refereed for five years and never been killed…" the ref looks down at the pair of fighters.

Leela starts juts forward and slides her foot towards him. He grabs her leg and holds her. She flies her other leg up and kicks him in the chest, freeing herself and knocking him to the ground.

"My turn," he gleams. He springs forward, plunging towards her with his feet and slamming into her towards a wall. She quickly recovers and springs forward.

"I've warmed up already. I said don't go easy," she hollers. He flies up and charges for her, with his energy swirling around him. She flies straight underneath him and plows into him. He quickly dodges and swerves to her back. He grabs her wrist from behind and she quickly produces a bomb and blasts it in his face. He holds her wrists tight and she flips around kicks him into the wall underneath the king's throne.

"Yikes, what a jolt just now," comments Zogfish, as he's knocked out of his seat, "Felt like a decapod-quake."

"Nice move there, Leela. Try blocking this." Yusuke puts his wrists together with his palms open and sends an enormous blast of energy her way. She braces herself and blocks the ray with her own hands. Then she counters the ray with her own energy, sending the blast back at him. He charges more at her until the union of both energies ricochets against one of the mud walls and escapes through it, creating a huge hole.

"I said don't destroy the place," yells Keiko.

"Sorry," yells Yusuke.

"What was that?" the audience of lobsters asks each other, "Did you see that? Who are these Earthicans?"

Zogfish nearly falls out of his throne at the sight of the blast.

"What sort of drugs is Leela taking?" asks Zapp, "I'll order them for my men at once."

"Sir, she's not using drugs," answers Kurama.

"No matter, I'll just seduce her later until she tells me the truth."

"You will not," sneers Hiei, "So help me, I'll kill you before you lay a hand on my woman."

"Your woman? I don't think so, Shrimpy. She chose me first. The moment she slept with me, she became mine."

"Oh yeah. How dare you insult me like that! How about I kill you right now?" he steams. Kurama holds his arms back. "Let me go, you idiot."

"This is no place to cause a scene."

"Get this through that pea brain head of yours. Leela's my woman now. She doesn't want you. She's way out of your league. That power she's wielding now is enough to rip you to pieces. I'm going to make her my wife and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"When is that going to happen?" asks Keiko with sparkly eyes.

"Let me ask her on my own time, okay."

"You haven't asked her yet? I thought you did," ponders Kurama, "Man that'd be sweet."

"Maybe after we defeat Ryuku or at Christmas."

"At X-Mas, wouldn't that be dangerous with Santa Claus on the loose?" asks Amy.

"Not if it's back in the 21st century," answers Kurama, "Back in our era, he's a sweet old man that slides down chimneys and puts presents under the tree for the kids. My son, Saito waits up all night in the living room waiting for him to arrive. Sakura also has a hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve."

"That's the same at my house," smiles Keiko, "Megumi gets out of bed and checks the fireplace. Last Christmas, she waited for him and fell asleep on the floor in front of the tree. Yusuke found her and picked her up and let her sleep on the couch. Then quietly, we stacked all the presents under the tree. You should have seen it that morning. She was so excited to wake up and find the floor litters with gifts."

Hiei looks at her with a laugh and a sad expression on his face. "This will be both Hiro and Yuki's first Christmas. I was sort of hoping Mukuro would be there for our son, but Leela will be there instead. She's great with him. She takes care of him, as if he were her son. One of my reasons for wanting her to marry me is so that she could be a mother to Hiro. He really needs one in his life, so he doesn't have to have such a lonely life like mine was. I want his childhood to be filled with warm memories, instead of cold, bitter ones."

"So are we done here, Sire?" asks Zoidberg.

"When someone blows a hole in my stadium wall, I'd say yes. That's enough out of you."

"But we just got started," protests Yusuke.

"Yeah, what he said," agrees Leela.

"I don't want you destroying my beautiful stadium," charges Zogfish.

"Aren't you going to that volcano place on Mars later? You can destroy that all you want," yells Keiko.

"She's right," Leela sighs looking at Yusuke, "It's a hell of a lot bigger anyways and nobody owns it." "We also came here because this is one hell of a beach."

"Sweet, I love the beach." He pulls off his pants and reveals swim trunks. "While you girls were in your room, your friend Fry gave us these beauties."

Leela leaps up to the top of the stadium and walks down the steps on the other side. Yusuke follows her close behind the starts and walks next to Fry. "That was smooth moves, my friend. Can you teach those to me sometime?"

"Sure thing, I'm going to be in New York City for the next couple of weeks. You can't do the power stuff, because that's something I've been doing since my teens, but I can show you some moves I teach my students."

"You're a teacher?" asks Fry.

"Yes, I teach physical education with a specialty in martial arts."

"Where at?"

"At a junior-high in Tokyo. It's where I used to go to school as a kid. Weird thing is I'm teaching the very course I hated as a kid."

"That's similar to me. I used to be a delivery boy for a pizzeria and totally hated the job. Then I was frozen for 1000 years and became a delivery boy for Planet Express. Now I'm flying all over the universe delivering packages."

"Leela," says Botan, "Those were great moves in there. With both those guys was really neat. I wish Koenma had seen that."

"You really think so. I was worried I wouldn't measure up."

"Are you kidding, oh my gosh?" sparks Amy, "How do you do those moves? That thing with what Yusuke shot at you. What was that anyways?"

"That's spirit energy," answers Leela.

"What's spirit energy?"

"Amy, that's what some highly spiritual fighters wield," explains Shizuru, "There's levels of energy in every person. Every once in a while you run into someone with a condensed supply of it. Finding such folks though is like a needle in a haystack."

"Some people realize their powers and learn to wield them on their own. Leela had the powers inside her body, but was either unable to see them or reach them on her own. But it was like practically seeping out of her, searching for a tap or outlet. That's when my boss, Koenma, asked her to come meet him in Spirit World. He's got the ability to open up spiritual channels in people and help them reach their powers. He did that when I brought her up there."

"Yeah, then Master Genkai taught me how to use the powers that I had obtained and has been training be everyday since then. I've come back here to train, because in the 21st century there are too many monsters that want to cut in on the training and ruin things. That's part of why I'm back here. The other reason is there's something I need to see with the data I've collected on Seiki and Notaku. I need to go buy virtual headgear so I can see what happened back then. I want to know what we're up against, when the dragon reawakens."

"You're going to train on Mars? I'd like to see that. What you did in there was cool? Why the volcano though?"

"Bigger space. What you saw in there was just a third of what Yusuke and Leela can do," Keiko explains, "He knows he's got a worthy opponent. It took him 14 years to get as good as this, but Leela's picking up this stuff up in just a few months."

"That was only a third of their power. Can't wait to see their power in its entirety."

"So Hiei, you going to pop the…"

"Shh, don't blab it. I want to surprise her. You know how Shizuru surprised you."

"So you're going to dress up in a Santy suit and wait for her at the mall?"

"What no, that's ridiculous. I'm not doing that."

"You're right. I don't think you'd make a good Santa anyways, might harm the kids."

"You're going to dress up as a mean Santa Claus?" asks Zoidberg.

"Yeah, and show off some robotic moves," replies Bender.

"No, none of that. Will you guys can it?"

"As long as you can teach me those moves, so I can destroy all humans," Bender requests, as he struts off to join in on Fry and Yusuke's conversation.

"I saw you fighting Leela. I want to destroy stuff too. Can you show me how to destroy things?"

"Bender, you already know how to destroy stuff," rebukes Fry, "You do that all the time."

"But this guy here does that in a really cool way. I want to attract me some fembots. They'll be all over me if I did what he did."


	26. Chapter 26

"Ladies this is it," announces Leela, walking backward through the sand. "The sun's still out and this is a good spot as any to tan."

"So we came to the future and flew gazillion miles into space to come to a weird planet with these lobster creatures just to watch a spirit fight and get a tan," replies Shizuru.

"Basically," laughs Leela, "you summed that up nicely." "How did you like the getting here part?"

"It was really good. This should set Asuka back several paces and give my kids something to fantasize over," Shizuru laughs back at her.

"Yeah and now Yusuke will think he's Leonard Nemoy," laughs Keiko making the Spock gesture with her fingers.

"He still exists," informs Leela, "Well his head does."

"Just his head? Where's the rest of him?" asks Botan.

"A lot of famous people from your era have put their heads in jars," informs Amy, "They're at the Head Museum in New New York if you want to see."

"Wouldn't they be dead without a body?" asks Keiko.

"Yes, but they've got a device at the base of their neck that keeps them alive," answers Amy.

"I'd think that would just suck not to have a body," replies Keiko, "You can walk or jump or do anything. Not even enjoy sex. I enjoy it."

"I'm with you," agrees Shizuru, "I couldn't make love to my fox-man without it. Nor could Miss Leela to her fireman. I know what you did in there."

"We just wanted time alone," replies Leela, twirling her hair, "I was just giving you some space."

"Leela, there's plenty of space on that main deck for making out. You went to your room with him."

"We started to kiss and then we wanted more…then…"

"Then you went into deep space with the guy," laughs Shizuru, "You're hungry for him."

"Actually it was the other way around this time. He was hungry for me. Should I say no to him?"

"I'm not here to run your life. I think it's funny you two are out in space this horny."

"Then you try it on the way home. You two can have my room and I'll stay on the deck with Hiei. Then you can say you've done it in space."

"You stay on the deck and get stuck together in the most awkward way."

"At least yours doesn't fall asleep on you," sighs Keiko, "As soon as we get going, Yusuke conks out in the middle of it. I have to wake him up just to finish and get off. He's like an old geezer who needs Viagra pills."

Leela laughs at her, "Sorry, the way he moves like that in battle doesn't give me that impression."

"Of course not. His best moves are out on the battlefield or when shooting demons. But that all changes the moment you sleep with him. Then he's a lazy bum that wants to do nothing but fall asleep during sex."

Leela and her girlfriends stroll along to the beach and are about to sit down when a lobster walks up to them. "His Highness realized you ladies forgot your beach towels." He offers each of them a beautiful towel.

"Thank you, sir," Keiko bows to him. Shizuru and Botan smile and bow to him as well.

"What are you doing, ladies, paying me homage?" he asks.

"Not in the least," laughs Leela, "Keiko, Shizuru, and Botan are Earthicans from Japan. It's just their greeting custom."

"I like it," chimes the lobster, "Well in any case these are compliments of the hotel. The king has invited you all to stay, free of charge."

"What's the reason? Both Leela and my husband blew a giant hole in his stadium," replies Keiko.

"Because Zogfish and Zoidberg are childhood buddies, almost like brothers. Plus that was an awesome display you and your friend performed. The newspapers here will be talking about that Claw-Plagh fight for years. There has never been a fight that did damage to the stadium before. And that guy with the rope was kind enough to let the ref live."

"Come on," shrugs Leela, "It's just for one night. We'll go back to Earth tomorrow."

"I guess," sighs Shizuru.

"They have clam-shaped beds perfect for sex," Leela whispers.

"Ooh, Kurama would definitely love that," Shizuru replies in a seductive voice. "We are away from home with no kids to bug us. It'll just be like before I was pregnant with Saito."

"There you go."

"Yeah, same with Yusuke. I know part of the reason he falls asleep in the middle is the kids are around. Back before Megumi, he was so suave. The sex was unbelievable."

"Maybe out here on an alien world would be just the thing," chimes Leela.

"Right and what a thing to hold over Asuka's head," Shizuru laughs. She flattens her towel over a spot at the top of the beach. She lies on her stomach and becomes soothed by the roar of the ocean waves crashing against the sand. "This is one great sun. Not too hot, but perfectly aligned here."

Leela lays out her towel down and unhinges the bra of her bikini. "No need for sun block here. The sun that warms Decapod 10 is at just the right distance away."

"Wait isn't that pig still here? Why give him a chance to see you topless?"

"Normally I wouldn't, but with our men here…"

"You've got a point there. Yusuke's especially protective of Keiko and Botan."

"That's reassuring," smiles Botan, "By the way, that friend of yours, Fry, is quite a sweet guy. While you were fighting Hiei, he asked me if I'd like to go out with him sometime."

"What did you say?" asks Leela.

"I have nothing else to do here. Koenma's at home in the 21st century so there's nothing he can do ruin my vacation. I accepted Fry's invitation."

"That's great Botan. He might be as slow as Kuwabara, but he is a very sweet guy once you get to know him," smiles Leela about half asleep.

"She's right about that," agrees Amy, "He's very charming."

Botan removes her top and lies on her stomach, "Will you guys cover for me if I were to flip on to my back like this? I want to get a tan all over."

"Sure," yawns Leela, "I was about to do just that. Nobody enforces laws against topless tanning. And with our men here…" Leela turns over and folds her arms behind her head, exposing her bare chest to the sun, "…there's nothing to worry about."

"We'll take turns," smiles Shizuru, "When you're done sunning your front, then flip back over and watch someone else."

"Like you, perhaps. And then your fox-man walks by…"

"Oh just let him. He'll 'accidentally' fall on me. He does that when we're on vacation."

"Then what."

"Then he carries me up to the hotel room and we make love. One time we were in Cancun and we made love right on the beach."

"You've done that on the beach?" asks Keiko.

"Our wedding night was in that old dingy at the top of the beach, behind Genkai's temple. I told you that was a magical beach, Leela. That's where you became an item."

"Seriously?" asks Amy, "You and Hiei were an item that third night you were away from this century?"

"It actually happened that morning at the temple. We were sparring to show off to Ms. Genkai, when I accidentally scratched his cheek, causing him to bleed. We went to the steps there so I could clean the blood off his face. Then it happened. He started kissing my hand. At that moment I felt closer to him than I had ever been with a man at first sight. We started kissing before I realized it."

"You were in denial then," recalls Botan.

"Well of course, but could you blame me?" asks Leela, "We barely knew each other then."

"Aw, what a romantic story," Amy sighs in a blissful voice, "Love at first sight."

"That's what happened with you and Kiff too, right?" asks Keiko.

"Well sort of. We met when the Titanic was being pulled into a black hole."

"Yeah, because Zapp had the bright idea to fly the ship into it," replies Leela.

"Wow, not even Kazuma's that dumb. He's at least a cautious driver. And he never drives drunk, that's against his code."

"I'm done, Shizuru," smiles Leela as she flips back over onto her stomach.

Shizuru smiles and slips her top off, exposing her breasts. Then she turns onto her back and locks her fingers together, laying her hands on top of her stomach. "This is pure heaven. I wish I had known about this place earlier."

"Yeah, too bad it's so far out in space, none of our friends can reach it," sighs Keiko, "We should have asked Yukina to come along. She'd really love this."

"Unfortunately with so many lobster people around, Kazuma wouldn't know what to think," laughs Shizuru, "Plus you couldn't control him against beating that Zapp guy senseless, especially if he so much as looked Yukina's way."

"Yeah, plus that would give Hiei all the more reason to kill him," sighs Leela, "I've noticed he's extremely protective of his sister."

"He's protective of you too, Leela. You're his woman now. He's not going to let Zapp do whatever he wants to you," reassures Keiko, "He said that himself as part of his ultimatum to Zapp, while you were fighting Yusuke. Kurama had to hold him down before he caused a scene."

"That's wonderful to hear that. I already know that, but to hear it is really good."

Leela watches a masculine shadow walk by with the familiar scent of roses. She pretends to ignore him and keeps her eye closed. "Whoops," he replies, as he makes himself fall onto Shizuru. "Hey beautiful creature, sorry about that," he says in a seductive voice.

"Leela, you were supposed to watch out for me."

"You said watch out for you. You said nothing about what I should do if Kurama sees you like that. That's your problem."

"Traitor," she smirks. Amy watches the two lovers, trying to keep from laughing.

"So, beautiful maiden, what's your plans tonight?" Kurama asks her.

"I don't know," she replies, tracing his bare chest with her finger, "I was going to let you decide. Our room has a bed shaped like a seashell. We could play Ariel and the Prince tonight."

"So you're the mermaid and I'm the prince that carries you away to my palace."

"That's the idea, Your Majesty." He sweeps her up in his arms and carries her off towards the hotel.

"Where's the hotel?" asks Keiko.

"It's just across the street from where the spaceship is docked," informs Leela. She sits up and slips her top back on. "It's time to go in anyways. The sun's going down." Leela stretches her arms and grabs her clothes from the top left corner of her towel.

Leela spots Yusuke walking towards her with Hiei fast asleep on his back. "What happened?"

"He says all this traveling he had to do through time and through space to other planets plus that fight with you…"

"I get the message," Leela smiles.

"My guess is you're used to it. Fry says he does this stuff all the time. Same thing with Bender and Zoidberg."

"Zoidberg is from here. Decapod 10 is his home. He and Zogfish have been friends forever. That's part of why Zogfish is treating us to these hotel rooms. Zoidberg must have told him you guys have never space traveled before."

"What's the other reason he's treating us?"

"He thought our version of Claw-Plagh was awesome."

"So instead of punishing us for destroying part of his stadium, he rewards us with a free hotel stay," laughs Yusuke.

"I say why fight it. I'm too tired to fly the ship anyways."

"What about our stuff in your trunk?"

"It's safe. Only I can unlock the doors. Besides it's invisible now, so nobody can figure out there's a car in that spot in the parking lot at all."

Leela and her friends walk across the street to the hotel. They walk through the automatic door and see a lobby with an elevator in the center.

"Zoidberg said our rooms are all on the second floor," informs Yusuke, as the group steps into the elevator.

"I can carry him for you," offers Leela.

"Okay. I didn't know. I noticed you carrying your clothes and stuff."

Leela drapes her clothes over her left arm and returns her wristband to its place on her right arm. Gently Yusuke shrugs Hiei off his back and lets him drop into Leela's waiting arms.

"He's not heavy for me at all," replies Leela.

"I wouldn't think he'd be heavy for you, Leela, as strong as you are."

"Aw, he looks like Kiffy like that," comments Amy.

"I've seen that look on him all the time," laughs Botan, "But that's cute when you hold him in your arms like that. It's like how you hold Hiro."

"I'd love to see a picture of that son of his," Amy requests.

"I've got a photo album in the hover-car back on Earth," informs Keiko, "I've got pictures of everyone including all the kids. I took a picture of Hiro and Yuki sitting together."

"That sounds so neat," chimes Amy. The group steps out of the elevator and start walking down the hall.

"Leela, you've got the first room," Yusuke whispers, unlocking the door for her. She strolls in and finds the clamshell bed open and lays Hiei in the bed. She watches Yusuke place the key on the mini-bar and close the door behind him.

Leela lies next to him on the bed and glides her fingers through his hair, gently removing his headband. She looks at him sleeping so peacefully. Leela slips both pieces of her bikini off and rests naked beside him. She pulls the covers over both of their bodies and requests the clamshell bed to close itself shut.

Leela closes her eye and drifts off, meeting him in her dream. "What a day you had."

"Yes, I've never thought in a million years I'd travel anywhere other than Earth. I never expected this."

"May I create a dream for you, Hiei, like you did for me?"

"Sure. What have you got in mind?"

Leela dreams of the two of them walking through a 12-foot-tall bush labyrinth in a Greek garden. The walls are lush with beautiful green foliage and red and pink roses dotting throughout the maze. At the center of the maze is an old square stone tower reaching a hundred feet tall. An old wooden door with two boards missing swings open with hinge all rusty with age.

Leela holds his hand as they saunter through the maze as though not worried about the time at all.

"Leela, this is a very beautiful place you created here. This is the sort of dream Kurama would make for Shizuru."

"I just wanted a place for just the two of us. Nobody else will have this place. Don't you just smell the sweet air here? The sweet scent of roses coming off this garden."

"Mm it feels so nice out here. This is a wonderful dream you made. Too bad a place like this doesn't exist."

"We can make it exist," Leela assures him. They stroll to the tower and see the door opening by the soft wind passing by them.

Hiei steps inside first and escorts her inside the tower. Once inside they see a narrow spiral staircase made of the same gray granite stone as the tower itself. A rustic smell of the cool stone steps caress their nostrils, as Hiei leads her all the way up to the top floor. An old granite floor is spread out before them, as they walk to a three-foot high wall and gaze through a three-foot high gap that surrounds the perimeter of the building. After the gap, a high grassy thatched ceiling meets from each corner of the square building to a center point at the top. A piece of severed rope dangles from the point of the roof to about six feet down, with indication that a large bell had been there at one time.

Leela leans on the wall with Hiei and gazes out over the picturesque garden from the rustic lookout point. Immediately in front of them, they see a swallow's nest with a mother bird tending to her babies. "Isn't this a fantastic place?" she asks him.

"I can't believe you're dreaming this. It almost seems so real. Where did you come up with this?" he asks, looking out over the horizon, "I wish this place really existed."

"It can, if you want it to. We can come here every time when we sleep. No matter where you are. Whether you're sleeping right beside me, or if we're sleeping on opposite sides of the Demon and Human World border, this will be our place to come to in our dreams. We can spend as much time as we want here, and we can even make love here without regret. This will be our own personal heaven. We could even bring Hiro here to play in the garden. Maybe invent little friends for him to play with. And if either one of us should die, this will be our place for all eternity."

"Mukuro never came up with stuff like this. Her dreams were always dark and bitter, even when she was with me. It must take a heart that never knew suffering or pain to come up with something this breathtaking. This is from a pure heart that knows what love is and wants to share it with the one it loves the most. You've wanted that and now you've got it. You've got me forever, and I want to share my love with you." He touches her cheek with his hand, catching a tear rolling down her cheek. She brings her hand up to his wrist and holds his hand gently, kissing his hand. Slowly she draws her lips towards his and locks him into a slow, long kiss. Their words become silenced and their breaths quieted, as they caress each other in a seemingly endless kiss.

"Can I create something to go with this scene?" She nods and almost instantly sees the sky blacken and become sprinkled with a dazzling array of stars.

"Oh look. A nebula," she chimes, "Make a wish on one of those. I promise I won't even read what you wished for."

"Leela, I have no need to wish for anything. I've got everything I want right here."

He pulls his lips away from hers. "Leela," he whispers, "It's time this dream ends for now. It's morning now."

Leela opens her eye and sees the shell opened and sees his eyes gazing into hers. "You're awake. What time is it?"

"I've been awake for awhile. I had to take a leak, first thing. You looked so peaceful in that dream; I didn't want to disturb you. You're watch says 6:30."

Leela stretches and pulls the covers off her naked body. "We can make that place real. Even in Demon World. We can live there instead of that tower."

"You don't like the tower anymore?" asks Hiei.

"It's okay, but it's not where I pictured I'd spend my life. It's not me. Just too dark and too gray. Besides it's not mine."

"So you want that dream garden to become real? I suppose we could try that. A better setting for such a place would be in Human World."

"We could create it ourselves. Create it for Hiro to play in. And in time, perhaps we can give him a little brother or sister to play with. We could build a house there, making it look like it had been there since the late 19th century."

"We could let Kurama help us with the landscape, since plants are his specialty."

"I've got a little green thumb myself, Hiei," informs Leela, "We could find a piece of land, somewhere rural, outside of Tokyo."

"Or we could just make a place inside the city, in the suburbs. There are plenty of vacant lots nobody's using," he dreams, while sitting down on her side of the bed.

"I'm thinking rural so we can make look like an oasis from the Japanese norm. I'm still American, and I want to bring something American to our part of the land. We could even have Nibbler live there to complete the image."

"I love your visions here. A real home for us. No more will I live in Human World by force, but by choice and with you." He leans forward and gives her a sweet, peaceful, kiss. He smiles at her and looks her in the eye. "Are you going to get dressed or do you want me to do you now? You sitting here nude like this is giving me a hard on."

"Okay, how about I get dressed and make out with you?"

"Wouldn't that be a waste of time? To get dressed then undressed five minutes later," he asks seductively.

"Well I guess I won't waste the time then," she smiles, continuing to kiss him. "It's just so hard to…pull…away…"

Suddenly they hear a knock on the door. "It's just me," hollers Yusuke's voice.

"Don't come in," hollers Leela.

"I'm not," he laughs, "Meet us downstairs in the lobby for breakfast."

Leela scrounges for her clothes and dresses quickly. "Hurry, I'm curious to see what he's got on his mind."

"He wants to meet us for breakfast. I thought this was breakfast," jokes Hiei.

"Shut up," she laughs throwing a pillow at him, "He means the kind with food, not hot sex and you know that." She slips on her boots and slaps on her wristband. She starts to comb through her hair when he stops her.

"Why are you always wearing that ponytail?" he asks.

"What's the matter with it?"

"Nothing, just…can I mess with it? You've got such beautiful violet hair. It's so soft to the touch. I could braid it for you."

"When did you become Mr. Vidal Sassoon all of a sudden?" she laughs.

He kneels on the bed, extends his fingernails into pointy claws, and combs her hair back with his fingers. He parts her hair evenly from the top of her head, all the way to the back of her neck, separating her hair evenly. He starts with the left side of the part and twists her hair into a straight long braid. He requests for her scrunchy and temporarily uses it to hold the braid together. Then he repeats the braiding process until both braids match each other. Then he removes the scrunchy and twists it around the ends of her braids, tying them together. He retracts his nails and pulls his sword out about a half of a foot to show the reflection of her, like a mirror.

"Thanks, Mr. Vidal Sassoon. I'll recommend you to the salon in New New York."

"I'll pass and just do your hair," he laughs.

"I'll wear this all day and not take it down, after you went through the trouble," smiles Leela, as she stands up from the bed and escorts him off the bed.

"This is a neat room," he comments, "Looks like the inside of an aquarium."

"All the rooms are like that. I stayed here once when Zoidberg was here for the mating season. Unfortunately for his people, once they make babies, they die."

"First sex, then death. Where's the fun in that? You can't establish a relationship all for just a one-night stand. I couldn't die and leave you or Hiro. That would hurt too much."

She walks to the door with him and opens it. She leads him into the hallway to the main elevator.

"What floor is this?"

"Second floor. You were so sound asleep, that I didn't tell you."

An elderly lobster hobbles down the hallway with his cane and meets the pair by the elevator. "How are you young folks today?"

"Fine, sir," Leela replies.

"I'd seen you two fightin' with that magic stuff, yesterday. I tell ya', in my younger days, I used to fight Claw-Plagh. I saw you, young man with that weapon of yers. May I take a gander at that thing?"

"Show him your sword," she insists in a calm voice. Hiei withdraws his sword and shows it to the old lobster.

"That's a fine blade, son, on that there sword. What a pretty weapon you've got."

"It's really sharp. Be very careful," Hiei warns.

"I know. I used to collect swords in my youth, but then I got old and couldn't keep them. The missus thought I'd cut myself. So I gave them to my nephew."

"Ever seen one of these? It's an Earthican-Japanese style of sword called a katana."

"Katana. So that's the name of it."

"Yes and it's my life. I keep it with me at all times. I am a border guard for Japan and so I use this to keep evil, ugly monsters away from innocent humans they want to attack."

"So you protect people with it. What a noble guy you must be," he pauses and lets Hiei return the sword to its place in the sheath. "So where ya'll headed, if ya don't mind me askin'?"

"We're meeting our friends in the lobby for breakfast, then back home to Earth," informs Leela.

"I'm headed to the lobby myself for grub." The doors open and the three enter and are greeted by two lobster girls. The girls are locked in a conversation with each other and ignoring the three.

"So what sort of things do they serve here?" asks Hiei.

"Crab-shaped waffles, oyster flakes, chocolate squid muffins…" the old lobster starts to list.

"That's just muffins in the shape of squids," assures Leela, "Their food is what you expect on Earth. They call one dish Eel Brains. It's really just a chocolate gelatin swirl. Most foods taste better than they sound or look."

"I should be use to that. We in Japan come up with some dishes nobody should eat. Some treats like puffer-fish are only good when cooked just so, or it can kill you. I don't even bother with those crazy dishes."

The doors open again and everyone emerges into the lobby. Standing beside the elevator is the Emperor Zogfish, himself. "Welcome Leela and Hiei. Thank you for the fight yesterday. Gramps, what are you doing here?"

"Lenny, I wanted to greet them and see Ester. Is she with you today?"

"Uncle Trog, don't you remember she's been gone for years?" answers Zogfish.

"You're his nephew?" asks Hiei.

"Great nephew. But he raised me as his grandson when my parents died during their mating season."

"When can I see Ester? I want to see her." Leela listens to the old lobster with a tear down her cheek.

"Doesn't he just get to you?" she asks Hiei, "This old guy who loves your sword and remembers everything about his swords and things about his youth, but can't remember his own wife is dead."

"That is sad. And I felt the weakened life energy coming off of him. He hasn't long to live," he sighs, "Poor guy, it feels he could die today."

"You're pretty sharp there, sir," replies Zogfish, overhearing the couple's conversation, "You're right. His nurse said any day now. He's lived a long life."

"So that's why he wants to see his wife. He'll see her again," Leela reassures him, rubbing the king's back. Zogfish leads the pair from the right of the elevator to the main breakfast bar and dining room.

Immediately, Amy spots her. "What did you do to your hair? Love the braided look."

"Let me see," chimes Keiko, "That's pretty."

"Thank Hiei. He gave it to me."

"So Hiei, you style hair now," sparks Kurama, "Can you do mine like that? Can't do anything with it."

"Shut up, you dumbass. You do your own hair," Hiei laughs at him, "Or make your wife do it. Leela's my only customer."

"That's right. He's my stylist and you can't have him."

"Selfish and mean girl," Kurama pretends to pout, "Waah."

"Now look at what you did, Leela, you're making him cry," Yusuke holds onto his shoulders and points to Kurama's face.

"You two out to sign up for clown school when we get back to the 21st century," suggests Hiei, "You'll be a shoo-in."

"Dear, you're the one who always keeps it like that," Shizuru replies, while blowing on her coffee, "If you want it styled, then I'll do it like I style Sakura's hair."

"Don't you do that to Saito's hair, too?" asks Leela.

"No. I try but he wants it simple and long like his dad. Best I can do for him is brush his hair and his tail."

"Your son has a tail?" asks Amy.

"Both the kids have fox ears and tails. Right now their hair is mostly red, but Saito's hair is starting to become silver," explains Shizuru, "Leela, do you have a picture of them?"

Leela taps the screen on her wristband and displays a holograph of Saito and Sakura. "Oh how cute. They look like little foxes," Amy comments, "Why do they look like that?"

"Because they are half-demons," Kurama explains to her, "You see in my original form, I look like that. I'm a 7-foot-tall, silver-haired fox demon."

"Can I see that?" asks Amy.

"I don't see why not. I'll do that on Mars."

"Cool, because I've never seen you do that either," smiles Leela, "Well except in that dream."

"Oh yeah, I saw you with Hiei transformed. I almost didn't recognize him in that dragon form. But then I saw you and figured it out."

"He said that was the realm where you see spirits in their truest form. The second time I saw you, you were a fox."

"That's what my spirit looks like. Sometimes when I dream, I'm back in my animal form. I go to that place all the time. It's where I can roam free, frolic in the river, and sometimes catch a fish or two in my mouth. Sometimes it's hard to wake up from dreams like that."

"I know, last night, I didn't want to wake up. I made a dream for Hiei and I. It was this old, but very beautiful garden with a rosebush maze and a 100-foot stone tower in the center of the maze."

"That was very beautiful, Leela. Maybe tonight we go back there and create more stuff in the dream. I want to create that old house you were talking about. I think I know what it looks like."

"You can make something like that in real life. It'll take a lot of effort and hard work," Kurama informs.

Leela walks over to the drink station. "Hiei, they don't serve green tea here. There's coffee, milk, orange juice, and apple juice. They do have chocolate packets for your milk."

"I guess I'll drink coffee."

"Leela, I thought I saw green tea over there," replies Yusuke.

"That's not tea. It's oyster juice. I didn't think you'd be interested in that."

"I know. I saw that," Kurama cringes, "I can't believe someone would drink that."

"You'd be surprised. The shellfish here love the stuff," sighs Leela.

"She's right, that stuffs wonderful," replies Zoidberg, sipping on his mug of oyster juice, "Tastes just so good. Mm the heavenly aroma. You should try some," he offers to Hiei.

"I don't want that stuff. Eww, that stinks and makes me want to puke."

"Fine then don't drink it, that just leaves more for me, Zoidberg."

"I've got your coffee, do you take cream and sugar?"

"Black, please."

"I've got you covered here," she assures him, "There's sweeter smelling stuff than what Zoidberg has. It's enough to block the scent from that stuff."

Leela strolls over to a food bar and picks up a two plastic plates and stacks one underneath the other. Then she picks up two large cinnamon swirls and four strips of bacon and places them on the top plate. She brings it and the coffee over to Hiei, sitting at a nearby table.

"There aren't any chopsticks here, just forks," she tells him.

"I've noticed that," replies Yusuke, "I guess it's because shellfish can't use them, with their pincher hands."

"It's true. It's hard for me. I've seen you humans eating with those things, but lobsters can't use them."

"Zoidberg, you don't eat with a fork, except on occasion," Fry replies with his mouth full of soggy cereal.

"And you eat and talk at the same time like Kazuma," laughs Shizuru, "Botan, that's the exact table manners he uses."

"Yeah, I've noticed," she laughs, sipping a glass of orange juice, "But Fry has some good things about him. He's attractive, funny, suave, and…"

"I'll tell you the rest," replies Leela, "I've known him a lot longer than you. He's simple-minded, klutzy, show-off, eager to date, and lacks table manners."

"Who, Fry's like that?" asks Botan.

"I thought she was talking about Kazuma, for a second," sighs Shizuru.

The king steps into the area and calls their attention. "I know most of you folks have never been to space or my planet. Zoidberg told me that yesterday and again this morning. If you're all interested, the newspaper office has printed pictures of that wonderful Claw-Plagh from yesterday."

"Why aren't you punishing us for blowing a hole in your stadium?" asks Yusuke, "Leela and I made that hole. I'd be willing to fix it for you."

"Are you kidding? I'm keeping it the way it is. That hole will remind us of that magnificent fight. Nobody here can do that by themselves. That'll be like a trophy."

Shizuru stretches and stands up. "Where are you headed?" asks Leela.

"Just to the Ladies' room."

"I'll follow you and show you where it is. I've got to clean this breakfast off my teeth."

Leela leads her to the center hall and to the first beaded door. "Why is there toothpaste and toothbrush in there?"

"No, but I've got gum that is like that. We're going back home today."

"Yeah through space. Say this restroom looks just like our room."

"All of the rooms look like this. This hotel is like a huge aquarium."

Shizuru opens a stall door, "Now that's just overkill. Oyster-shell toilets. They're expecting me to pee in a huge oyster shell."

"Hey sister, what do you have to complain about?" the oyster replies, "At least you don't have kids to support. You think I like you humans putting your crap in my mouth?"

Shizuru gives Leela a strange look. "Just do what you have to," sighs Leela, "or wait until you get back on the ship."

"I don't have an option…" she hesitates, "I won't be long…"

"Just go ahead and use me," it sighs, "I won't even talk."

"Shizuru, it's not a big deal," Leela sighs as she walks in another stall and sits on another oyster's mouth, "That's just how things are here. You'll find out that quickly back in your apartment tonight. At least there, it's all robotic. The closet door, the bathroom, the kitchen. Everything is automatic."

"Is that what the future is like?" she finally sits over the oyster's open mouth, "And this feels awkward. What do I say to my friends at home about going tinkle in the mouth of something?"

"What's the big deal?" Leela shrugs, as she pees, "You slept on one too."

"Those beds were alive? We had sex in the open mouth of a real live creature?"

"Didn't you see the upper shell of the bed close on you? That's because it closed its mouth. The hotel pays them to do this job. They refrain themselves from eating the guests. After we're gone, the hotel feeds them."

"So this hotel doesn't just look like one big aquarium, it is one."

"Just about every place you go here is like that. Even the private homes. It's like what you would find at the bottom of the ocean, without the water engulfing everything."

Shizuru stands up and walks out of the stall, scratching her head. Leela follows close behind. She offers Shizuru a stick of toothpaste gum. "So are you going to take a photo page from Zogfish?"

"And show where I've been? That would bring Asuka down several pegs, almost to the bottom. I'll tell her the wild story about counseling a worm couple. I didn't want to upset the Queen, but she was speaking the truth. She's very ugly, slimy, and disgustingly obese. I'm surprised she hasn't had a heart attack or diabetes yet. She makes this one woman I'm working with now look like Britney Spear."

Keiko races into the restroom, and runs straight into Leela. "What's going on?" Leela asks.

"Our three guys are in the restroom and that Zapp guy started coming after me. I broke his jewels with my knee, but that didn't stop him. I ran in here to get away from him."

"We'll handle him," sneers Shizuru. "Find a stall."

"But I don't have to go that bad."

"Do it anyways. There's not very many places to stop in space, is there?" asks Shizuru.

"There are plenty of dark matter stations throughout the galaxy. But the bathrooms are so disgusting. There's also a bathroom on the ship. I use it, especially on longer trips when there really isn't a place to pull over."

"You almost make it sound like traveling through space, the same as driving across the American continent."

"Pretty much is like that, except if you step outside the ship while in space, you'll have no oxygen, no gravity, and it's absolute zero. You'd die instantly."

"Hey how do I…you know?" asks Keiko, from one of the stalls.

"Just sit over the mouth and go. That's it. The thing won't bite you. It's paid to do that," informs Leela.

"I'm still not used to that," shivers Shizuru. The two walk out into the main dining area. Leela spots Zapp sitting at a table, huddled over in pain.

"Leela, I didn't know that friend of yours liked it so rough?"

"She doesn't," Shizuru snaps, "How dare you come on to my friend like that!"

"I see you've got passion there to, you fine foxy lady."

"Zapp, you're the worst pig in the universe," scolds Leela, "Do you have any idea what Yusuke will do to you when he finds out?"

"Then just keep it a secret. What could that weakling to me anyways?"

"He's hardly a weakling," Shizuru comments, "That guy is a pro at street fighting and a master at martial arts himself."

"During our fight yesterday, he was testing me to see what I could do. Same thing Hiei, in our sword fight, he was testing different attack strategies to see what I could do to either block, dodge, or counter the move with my own."

"He's also testing your speed. I've seen you play simple games like tag or water balloon fighting. That's his way to see how fast you can run. I can barely keep up with you anymore, Leela."

"Should have seen us on Tuesday, with those water guns. We raced each other through the park, shooting at each other. It was enough to get Bender confused, just watching us play."

"So you and Shorty were in the park the other day. Why did you say something? I could have joined you."

"Can you race at 400 mph?" asks Shizuru.

"In a hover-car?" he asks.

"Zapp, I'm able to run that fast, okay. I've picked up these new skills in the 21st century."

"You're leaping and flying pretty good too. That's really good, especially when fighting demons," Shizuru comments. She watches Keiko emerge from the restroom.

"That was the strangest toilet. I didn't know it was alive. I feel bad for peeing in its mouth."

"That'll be the only time you'll have to do that," assures Leela, "Back in your apartment, it'll just be automatic." "So are you ready to roll?"

"What if that guy tries something?" Keiko asks, looking at Zapp.

"We'll leave him here. And he'd better not follow us…"

"…Or I'll wreck his fat, ugly face," snaps Yusuke, "If you ever touch Keiko or Botan, I'll make sure you're unconscious for two solid weeks."

"Same goes for you touching Shizuru," sneers Kurama, "Don't touch her ever, understand."

"That goes for Leela too. I know what you did to her in the past; I won't allow you to pick on her again. I won't even bother with unconscious crap. I'll send you to hell directly."

"Where did Amy, Fry, and Bender go?" asks Leela.

"Bender went to sleep in the ship," informs Yusuke, "Amy and Fry were headed on board, while we were in the john. Strangest place too. What the hell were those? Giant conch shells?"

"You've heard the old saying, 'One man's waste is another man's treasure.' These creatures get paid for that," shrugs Leela.

"That's not the half of it. According to Leela, our beds are also living creatures," informs Shizuru.

"We were sleeping in something's mouth?" asks Yusuke with a confused grimace, "So when regular guests come here, they literally pay for everything here. Usually it's the staff you pay, but I've never heard of anyone really paying to hotel itself."

Botan approaches the group wearing her kimono. "Why are you dressed…did it happen? Zogfish's uncle?" asks Leela.

"I had to escort him to his people's heaven," she sighs, "Sorry, but when you've a pilot for 700 years, it becomes an old habit."

Leela hugs Botan. "It's all right," Leela whispers, "Both Hiei and I could tell he was on his last legs. I just didn't think it be this soon." Leela looks across the room at the main doors and sees the king leaning against the wall beside the entrance. Leela strolls over to him and give him a hug.

"I heard what happened. I'm so sorry."

"I was sitting at a table with him when he just collapsed and then…" the king starts crying.

"What is wrong with Zogfish?" asks Zoidberg, "Why are your eyes swelling with mucus?"

"His uncle just died," replies Leela.

"Oh no, not Uncle Trog. I liked him. I miss him already."

"Can you stay for the funeral, Zoidberg?" asks Zogfish.

"Can you return me to Earth if I stay?"

"I will do that, old buddy," replies Zogfish. Leela pulls away from Zogfish and the two lobsters hug each other and cry.

Botan walks towards Leela. "Zoidberg's going to stay here for the funeral, but I didn't know Zogfish's uncle."

"It's okay, Leela. You can go," Zogfish sighs.

"I just hate to leave you like this," sighs Leela in a sad voice.

"He told me his final memory of you against Yusuke and Hiei in that Claw-Plagh tournament, is what he's taking with him," replies Botan, "Then he saw his wife again."

Botan turns and bows to Zogfish, "I'm so sorry I had to take him to your people's heaven, like that. He wants you to know he loves you and will watch over you for the rest of your life."

"Woman, you took him to heaven? What an honorable thing you did," the king replies then resumes crying.

"I will pray for him tonight," replies Yusuke, bowing to him.

"We'll all do that," promises Kurama, bowing to him as well. Shizuru, Keiko, and Hiei bow to Zogfish, as well.

"What's with the bowing?" asks the king.

"My friends here are Earthicans from Japan. This is their custom to greet someone, or in this case pay respect to someone," explains Leela.

"I like this greeting," replies Zogfish, "I'll accept this and your prayers as your gifts of respect. And that hole in my stadium is your present to me. That old place needed ventilation anyways."

Leela and her friends stroll out of the hotel and walk across the street towards the ship. She slips into her pocket and feels a tiny flat square object. "What a nice thing he gave me." She pulls out a tiny floppy disk about the size of a digital camera's. "He's given us the pictures of the fight and us just being here."

"I hope he doesn't have everything, like me answering nature's call in the mouth of a conch shell," replies Yusuke.

"Yeah or us going all the way in a real clam's mouth," Kurama replies, "I still can't believe that bed was alive. I should have. We would have used the floor instead."

"Guys, why are you worrying about it? These creatures are paid to do this. Do you have any idea who all sleeps here? There are hotels like this one all over. This is the universe's largest resort spot. This is the sort of place newly weds use. If I were to marry Hiei, for instance, I'd choose this place for our honeymoon. At least here the room service is self-done. You only pay for the room. Afterward the shellfish here are handsomely rewarded."

"So basically this is THEE best damn tourist trap, and we're the only ones from the 21st century that know about it," replies Shizuru with a mean look in her eyes.

"I can't wait until school starts again to talk about my summer vacation," snickers Keiko, rubbing her hands, "I'll say, I spent my vacation on an alien planet that makes a trip to Hawaii feel second rate. I'll say guess where you sleep and what you do your business in."

"Right Keiko, gross them out. Maybe I can tell them about what shellfish like to drink," Yusuke smirks.

"Don't tell me about it," Hiei replies in disgusted, "Leela, while you and Shizuru were in your restroom, that stench was too much. I ran as fast as I could to the first stall in the men's and retched into the oyster-toilet."

"I thought I heard someone doing that from the other side of the wall," replies Shizuru. "I was about to knock on the wall."

"Are you all right now?" asks Leela.

"Yes, I am now. Kurama gave me a stomach sedative almost immediately."

Leela steps aboard the ship and offers Hiei a stick of toothpaste gum. "This will get that nasty stomach-acid taste out of your mouth. It's peppermint-flavored." "Back home there are foods designed to be soft on your stomach. They're great for making you feel better."

"What if you want to come back here? You know for that honeymoon stuff."

"Then we can eat outside on the beach, where you can relax and enjoy a place nobody else can get to for 1000 years."

Leela whispers in Shizuru's ear, "I'm sorry, there was a third option, but I didn't know how comfortable you'd be about walking out into the ocean?"

"You should have said something. I do that all the time on vacation. Sometimes I'll do that on purpose. I load myself up with a non-alcoholic drink, then walk straight into the middle of the ocean and let 'er rip. Next time I'm back here, I'll do that."

"I do that when I'm here. One time, I had been sucking on apple juice and was in the middle of sunbathing when the juice suddenly came back to haunt me. The hotel was too far away, so I ran out as far as I could into the ocean and swam around to pretend I was just out for a dip."


	27. Chapter 27

Leela boards the ship and takes to the pilot seat. "Everyone on board," she shouts.

"Yes, Captain," replies Yusuke, "It is 0900 hours and we're ready to launch." He salutes her, trying to imitate Spock's voice.

"Didn't I tell you about the Leonard Nemoy thing?" laughs Keiko.

"Everyone's here except Zoidberg," notices Fry.

"His friend's uncle died this morning at breakfast," Botan replies with a sad voice, "I had to take him to his people's heaven."

"He wanted to stay for the funeral and to comfort Zogfish," sighs Leela.

"I want to pray for his uncle," replies Keiko.

"Can we, Leela? He was a sweet old man, guys. I wish I had seen his sword collection."

"He liked your sword, Hiei. That was the last thing he saw in his life. He was so taken by our fight and it reminded him of his youth. We can pray for him before we take off if you want."

Leela switches on a loud speaker from inside the ship and directs the sound waves towards the hotel. "Emperor Zogfish, we'll say a pray for you and for your uncle." She lowers her E-mail monitor and broadcasts herself and her friends to every TV screen. "Here's our huge gift for you and your people. Lord, please accept your son, Trog, into your kingdom. May your grace shine down upon Zogfish, his nephew, and anyone who knew Trog in his or her life. Please bless them in their time of sorrow over their loss of their dear brother Trog. May his reward and theirs be great for always. Thank you for opening your ears to our humble prayers, Adieu."

She immediately receives an e-mail from Zogfish. "Thank you for your prayer," he replies, wiping his tears with his mouth flap, "You and your friends are welcome back here, free of charge. We will use your prayer at his funeral tomorrow. You…are…really sweet people." He starts crying again and shuts the transmission off.

Leela starts the rocket boosters and flies the ship straight up into space. "So Botan," asks Yusuke, "What did their Spirit World look like?"

"It's what you'd think heaven ought to look like. These guys don't skimp on gold. Their gate is a golden with a door made of cylindrical bars. There were two lobster guards dressed from head to toe in white robes, each with a golden trident in his claw. They saw I had Trog with me, so one of them opened the gate and the other greeted him with a hug. They blessed me for bringing him up there, and called two female lobsters to escort us to the main office. The path between the gate and the office was very organized. Each sea creature was sitting at his or her desk without any paperwork cluttering their space."

"That would make sense," replies Leela, "In this era, hardly anybody uses paper. It's way too messy. We use it for photos and newspapers, but that's about it." She pulls out the floppy disk, "When Zogfish said we could have the pictures from the fight, this little cartridge is what he meant. This will stick into my computer at the apartment."

"What computer? I didn't see one in your apartment," replies Hiei.

"When I'm not using it, it gets stored behind the opposite wall in my bedroom. Didn't you notice there were doors on my right side of the bed? On your side are the closet and the bathroom."

"So guys what did you think of Decapod 10?" asks Fry.

"Next time we should bring the kids out here," suggests Keiko.

"Oh yeah have them travel in space. I'd never hear the end of it from Saito," laughs Shizuru.

"Why not?" asks Leela, "They'd love it out here. They've got stuff for kids to do. Besides this isn't the only planet. There's billions more out here."

"Take them to the moon," suggests Fry.

"What you mean to that overpriced theme-park? There's better stuff than that place."

"Take them to the ranch," suggests Amy, "They could enjoy bar-be-ques with my folks, feed the buggalo, and ride on Betsy's back."

"Isn't she expecting soon?" asks Fry.

"She laid her mess of eggs five months ago, so they should be hatching any day now."

"I didn't know she was pregnant," replies Leela.

"One day she came into heat, and one of our studs, El Juapo, mated with her."

"He's the father? I met him once. He's a very nice bug. El Juapo is famous for his kisses," smiles Leela. Leela sets the coordinates for Earth, sets the speed to one million light years, and finally shifts to autopilot. "Okay that's it. Once again you're free to move around the ship. Just don't go outside."

"How long is it until we get home?" asks Keiko.

"About five hours," replies Fry with a yawn, as he heads back to his quarters with Bender.

"Lazy," Leela sighs, "He's always sleeping."

"Can I use your bedroom? I've got my underwear in there," informs Shizuru.

"Sure go ahead. I'll use it last."

"That's all I had to put on this morning, under my clothes."

"So five hours in here? What do you do for that long?"

"I've got a game called Brain Freeze. It's a mentally stimulating game that tests your mind. I know you'd enjoy it, Kurama, as smart as you are."

"Is it hard?" asks Yusuke.

"Only at the highest setting. Level 50 is the hardest for even geniuses to beat. I don't think we'll get that high. We'll go from Level 1 to Level 30, to make it fair. We can split into teams or do couples." Leela counts to herself. "If we do teams, it'll be four to a team. It's good to have a even number of players."

"Does it matter whose team you're on?" asks Yusuke.

"It shouldn't. This is just for fun."

"Is there some board you play on or cards?"

"You want to use those primitive things? Amy, isn't the game in your room?"

"I'll get it. You guys will love this," she chimes, racing to her room.

"We've got eye glasses. There are even sets of blue and red glasses." Amy returns with a wooden box. Leela pulls out a red monocle glass and places it on her face. Amy offers each of the players a pair of glasses.

Shizuru emerges from Leela's room and sees the box of glasses. "What's going on here?"

"It's this game called Brain Freeze," replies Amy, "You want to play it. It's super fun."

"And you wear these glasses. They look like nothing more than cheap plastic shades to me," shrugs Shizuru.

"There's more to them, dear," replies Kurama putting a blue pair on his face, "Wow it's like I can see the deck of question cards, but…"

"It's virtual," sighs Leela, "There are cards, and you can pick them up, but the cards are virtual. They don't exist in the actual sense."

"That's how most games are anymore, even your standard board games are virtual now," informs Amy.

"Everyone with blue glasses is Team 1. All with the red glasses is Team 2."

"Is there a time limit to the game?" asks Keiko, "Sometimes I play games like this with my friends from work and there's always a time clock or a sand timer."

"I can set it for thirty minutes if you want, or fifteen. The first few levels are easy questions that might require less than a minute. Like one of the question is 'What cartoon show started in the early 1990s and was a hit for 20 years?' Your answer would be 'The Simpson's.' I'm setting the era mode for the 21st century, and the year 2007. Now they're answerable for you."

"Do you keep score?" asks Botan, donning a pair of red glasses.

"The computer does that. Each of these glasses has a microchip inside. Then like colors correspond to each other. The team that asks the question gets to see the question and answer first. If you can't answer it in the allotted time, then the other team gets to guess then they get the points. The first team who reaches 1000 points wins."

"1000 points? That would take forever, wouldn't it?" freaks Yusuke.

"I think the harder the level, the more points you get," figures Kurama. "I've got a game like this at home."

"Exactly, you ascend to the next level when you answer the first 10 questions right. Of course the other way to win is if everyone in your opponent's party is stumped ten times in a row."

"My guess is the reason it's called Brain Freeze is the questions are harder in later levels and it gets to a point where you either get a headache from thinking too hard or you give up," explains Kurama.

"What he said," agrees Leela, "So Amy, Kurama, Keiko and Shizuru are Team 1. Yusuke, Botan, Hiei, and I are Team 2."

"I'm surprised you're doing this, Hiei. Usually you pass on these games unless your sword is involved," comments Kurama.

"I've got nothing else to do, besides that one kid at Demon Door Cave was forcing us to play. She's doing this to pass the time while we're in space."

"True. Back then you could have walked out of the cave anytime you wanted. Here, you step out and die immediately in the vacuum of space," replies Yusuke.

"Plus at the speed we're traveling, your head would be the first thing to come off," warns Amy, "The reason you don't feel the speed in here is because of the artificial gravity and the oxygen."

"See there's a speed too fast for you, Hiei," smirks Kurama, "I'll bet you can't travel one million light years."

"Shut up. Damn machines."

"Get used to it. That's what space travel is like," Leela replies, "At least the distance from Decapod 10 to Earth takes five hours. Sometimes on delivery runs, it can take two weeks or more for a single round trip."

"Ships like this one are fully stocked," explains Amy, "There's a full kitchen with vast amounts of food. Sleeping quarters, especially for really long trips. There's a full bathroom, which comes in handy when you really have to go and there isn't a truck stop for a million miles. And if you get really bored, there are virtual games like this one that can keep you occupied for hours."

"I've also got fresh clothes and a laundry area. This is basically like a house in space. So do you want to play Brain Freeze to pass the time? We've got four hours left until we reach Earth."

"I'll start it, just to warm up," Leela picks up a card, "Who was the founding father of the Rock and Roll era?"

"Founding father…oh The King. Elvis Presley," answers Botan, "He was my favorite delivery to Spirit World."

"You knew him? My mother would envy you so bad," laughs Yusuke.

Amy picks up a card. "Name the three nephews of Donald."

"Nephews of Donald? My daughter, Megumi, would know this one. She loves Donald Duck. Huey, Dewey, and Louie," chimes Keiko.

"Wow you can see the questions and answers," remarks Yusuke.

"Just the reader can," replies Leela.

"What's the number in a perfect score in Las Vegas?"

"I know this," Botan smiles, "It's 7-7-7. The score is 2-1."

"That's what it says on my glasses on the lenses," comments Shizuru, "I wish we had technology this advanced." She chooses a card. "Name the show that has seven people marooned on the beach. That's like where we were this morning."

"Well that's inhabited, dear," replies Kurama, "I think that card is referring to an uninhabited place. I believe it was Gilligan's Island."

Botan picks up a card. "I love this game. Genkai would love it; she's good at mind challenges. Name this movie about a skeleton who gets to play Santa Claus."

"That's Jack Skeleton," replies Hiei, "Nightmare Before Christmas."

"You've seen it?" asks Yusuke, "When do you watch human movies?"

"I thought the title was interesting so I saw it. It's okay, not scary though."

"Oh sorry, I'm next," jumps Kurama.

"Where were you, dude, lost in thought?" laughs Yusuke.

"Whatever. Maybe I was back at the hotel plowing…"

"Don't tell him," Shizuru blushes, "Just ask the question on the card."

"Okay. Saito would love this one. Who was the herpetologist that's famous for his crocs?"

"It's Steve Irwin," sparks Amy, "His head is on display in the museum."

"Naturally," laughs Botan. She picks up a card. "This is appropriate for what we're doing now, traveling in space. Name the series that stars Lenny and Bill about traveling in space."

"That's easy, the actors are Leonard Nemoy and Bill…William Shatner. Star Trek," Leela answers.

"Why are these questions asked like that?" asks Hiei.

"That's the challenge," Kurama answers, "These questions are worded poorly on purpose. It's a way to figure out what the answer is without being asked direct questions. That's how people can get stumped. The first few are easy to answer because the questions are easy to figure out. Once you get into it though, the questions get trickier."

"He's right, and the Level 50 questions are really worded poorly even though the answer might be easy," explains Amy.

Keiko picks up a card. "What's the favorite vegetable of this character who debuted in a comic strip in 1919?"

"1919? Damn that's old," replies Amy, "I don't know this…was it…"

"I think I know the comic strip. It has to be from E. C. Segar's comic strip, Popeye," guesses Shizuru, "His favorite food was…spinach. It's spinach."

"Yea, my turn," cheers Yusuke, "Give me the name of the owner to this flabby tabby."

"Say my name," Kurama says excitedly, "My cat is the laziest thing on the planet."

"This isn't about Snowball," laughs Shizuru, "Besides, she's not so bad."

"Right well, she does make a great door stop and a keyboard blocker. I have to pry her off the keyboard when I need the computer. Then she meows at me until I'm done." Leela laughs loudly at him.

"She just likes talking to you, dear."

"Yeah, and she wants me to get off so she can finish her 20-hour nap on the keyboard."

"That's terrible," Leela laughs as hard as she can, with tears in her eye.

"I know the cat in the question," laughs Botan, "His name is Garfield and his owner would be Jon Arbuckle."

"You know if you get tired of playing, we don't have to finish," Leela suggests.

"I really don't care what you guys do. It's my turn to ask a question, though," replies Hiei.

"Okay, you seemed to be mesmerized by that window."

He turns and walks towards the window. "Come take a look at this."

Leela takes off her monocle and follows him. "Holy crap, guys get back to your seats now." Leela retreats to her pilot seats.

"What's the matter?" asks Botan.

"We're heading into a meteor shower. Fry, Bender report to the engine room now."

"Aye aye, Captain," he responses over the intercom.

"What's he going to do?" asks Yusuke.

"Both he and Bender are going to load all the dark matter. Activating protective shield over haul," she commands to the ship. The computer responds and surrounds the ship with a meteor shield. "Cover over windows with protective glass shield."

"What? Now you can't see out the window," complains Keiko.

"There are glasses on the console in front of you. I'm wearing this pair over my eye to see how to navigate through these meteors," Leela explains, pointing to her face, "I can also turn the shield invisible. See."

"Where did these huge rocks come from?" shrieks Keiko, "They weren't here yesterday."

"This is just a common occurrence," explains Amy.

"How are we going to get through this? These things are as big as our car," she shrieks. Yusuke gets out of his and kneels on the floor beside her. "I don't want to die here. I've seen science fiction movies. People can get killed in space." She starts to cry.

He holds her close, trying to calm her down. "It's going to be okay," he whispers to her. "We've just got to have faith in Leela. She obviously knows what she's doing. She's been flying for seven years. How many showers like this occur?"

"How many meteor showers have you gone through?" asks Amy, "About 190."

"210, actually," corrects Leela.

"See, what did I tell you? Leela must be an experienced pilot to be able to navigate through that many meteor showers and still be alive to talk about it."

"We're almost home, you guys," Amy points out, "Look there's my home planet, Mars."

"Guys that was the Asteroid Belt we passed. Showers around there are very common place, almost daily," Leela explains, "See we made it through. Fry come up here and return the ship to Planet Express."

Fry walks up immediately and takes the helm. Leela immediately walks over to Keiko. "Honey, I'm so sorry I had to put you through that. I didn't mean for it to scare you." Leela embraces her and rubs her back.

"It's okay," reassures Shizuru, "We've made it through in one piece. You see Kurama taking his first meteor shower in stride. He's not worried."

"I was scared at first, but knew we wouldn't die here. Not with Ms. Leela here, or Mr. Fry. These folks do this stuff all the time."

Fry steers the ship towards the building and orders the hanger doors to open. He drives the ship until it becomes parallel with the hanger. He lowers the landing gear and smoothly docks the ship back into its place. "Keiko, are you okay?" he asks, "Sorry for that scare, meteor showers are just part of space travel. They're going to happen everywhere you go."

"We get the ship banged up all the time. So despite that little scare, how was that? You're first trip into space."

"I'd do it again," laughs Shizuru, "But first, what time is it? I'm hungry."

"Me too, I haven't eaten since that shellfish planet," replies Keiko.

"El Zar's is a good place. He makes the best stuff. I've got a discount there. First though…Car come to Planet Express." Leela and her friends walk out the lobby doors and back out the sidewalk. The hover-car greets them in front of the building. "I want take you to the place you'll be staying. So you can put your stuff away and freshen up."

"Where at your apartment?" asks Keiko, as Leela flies the car.

"At the apartments, but there are two places, I've mentioned, next door to mine. My landlord is a robot that's in real bad need of an upgrade, but he won't take it and nobody can convince him. He's got a really bad memory and he'll most likely think you've lived in the apartments your whole lives."

"This city is so huge. It looks less cluttered than what I remember of New York City," comments Kurama.

"In your time it's like that, but this place has been garbage free for centuries. We recycle everything. Every piece of trash, leftover food, candy wrappers, beer cans, broken robots…you name it." Leela gets a smile approaching an electronic store. "Pull over, Car." The car parks itself on the curb.

"What's going on?" asks Botan.

"Give me less than two minutes. I want to zip in here." Leela dashes out of the car and into the store.

"Hey Leela, what can I do for you?" asks a robot manager.

"Hey Mac, can you give me six wristbands, please? I'm sort of in a hurry."

"You're in luck," he replies, pulling out a rack from behind the counter, "I made these just this morning. They've got 3000 XP software, fully loaded. You want six, right? That'll be a picture of Al Gore."

"Do you take a debit card?" she asks, slipping her hand into her pocket and retrieving it.

"Yes, I'll accept that too." Mac holds out his hand and Leela slides her card through a slot on his palm and punches her pin number into the keypad on his hand. He hands her the six wristbands. She returns the card to her pocket and takes three bands in each hand.

"See you later, Mac," she hollers on her way out the door.

"Take care, Leela. Come back by soon."

Leela climbs back into her car. "Surprise! For you all." She passes out the wristbands to her friends. "You've been admiring my thing so much, you get one."

"Neat!" chimes Keiko. "What's on it?"

"Microsoft 3000 XP. Mac says these are freshly made. He makes them himself. This has mapping, GPS tracker, calendar-scheduler, and Internet connection. There's a holographic screen that appears and you can mess with the pictures. You can enlarge the screen and see everything. Next time you go shopping for clothes, especially for the kids, then it'll display their picture in actual size, and then match up clothes with pictures so you get a perfect idea."

"Can we do that today?" ask Shizuru.

"Oh geez, you always do that. As soon as we get to a foreign country, you need to get the kids something," laughs Kurama.

"Well none of their friends have seen these newest styles here."

"Nobody has from our era. This is the 31st century."

"I was planning to do that," smiles Leela, "And Macy's is where it's at. Their prices are very good, almost too good."

"Right, does Fry have a car too?" asks Yusuke.

"Yes and we're taking you to dinner at El-Zar's. He's meeting us there. Then you're free to do what you want. But first…Car take us home." The hover-car flies through the streets and heads towards a parking space. It lands left of an elevator. Leela opens both hatches and the trunk. She presses a button to the right of the doors and opens into the car. "We're on Level I." Leela holds the door open.

"Aren't you going to lock the doors?" asks Shizuru.

"It self-locks. This is a robotic car. You'll find very quickly that robots are everywhere. You're even wearing one on your wrist. That's a robot. You can't go anywhere without running into one."

"How long are you going to hold me open, all day?" asks the elevator, impatiently.

"Okay already," replies Keiko. Everyone gathers into the elevator. "It's bigger than it was looking."

"Look here, I'm trying to lose weight here so I can carry more of you humans up," the elevator complains, "I'm drinking lighter beers now."

"Don't argue, just take us to Level I," sighs Leela.

The car complies and rides up to I. "That was very strange," Shizuru shakes her head in disbelief, as they walk out, "I'm not used to arguing with elevators. They usually don't talk to you. You might have to put me in a home when we get back."

"You talk to your wrist thing too. Every once in a while, give it alcohol."

"This is my place. 1-I." Leela pulls out a plastic card from her back pocket and slides it through a slot on the door. Automatically it slides open and the lights turn on. "Come in and check it…" Just then she sees a scruffy-looking robot wheeling through the hall. "Hector, long time."

"You're Leela, aren't you? Why did you bring these tenants here?"

"I'm afraid we're boned. We were on Decapod10 when they lost their keys."

"That's a shame. I sure don't like seeing my tenants in a bind. What apartments do they have?"

"2-I and 3-I."

"Oh okay, I was waiting for you to return." He opens his chest plate and hands over the keys. "I know what it's like to lose keys in beautiful places like Decapod 10. I've done that myself. I've got duplicates incase you need them."

"See you later, Hector," Leela waves.

"You too, Leela."

"Who's taking the 2-I key?" asks Leela.

"We'll take it," replies Yusuke.

"So I guess you two get 3-I, Kurama," she gives him the key and points to the far third door in the hallway.

"Give it to Hiei instead, the number suits him," laughs Kurama.

"Ha ha, very funny," he smirks, "I'm sharing Leela's room."

"Botan, where do you want to stay? There's a 4-I but someone's living there."

"Can I bunk with you, Leela? Where?"

Leela steps on a button in the middle of the left wall. "Stand back from this area." A pillowy-soft white sofa draws up from the floor and fluffs itself out. "Botan, this is THEE most comfortest couch you'll ever sleep on. Sometimes after a hard day when I'm way too tired to make it to my bedroom, so this is what I use. You go to sleep on this thing; you might as well die in your sleep. It's that soft."

"Can I have my key?" asks Yusuke, "Keiko wants to unpack and I gotta go."

"Oh sure, sorry," Leela walks them down the hall to the second door. "These rooms are the same." She opens the door and walks them through the gathering room to the bedroom. "See these two buttons on your left. The first one is the closet and the second one is the bathroom."

He presses the second button, "Now what…oh?" The room senses his voice and adjusts itself, closing the door behind him automatically. "Oh by itself."

"That's not going to take him long to adjust," sighs Keiko, "These things do things just like that. Does the seat fall by itself too?"

"Yes. These bathrooms adjust to anyone who uses them, just by audio recognition. The computer heard his voice and adjusted itself to a man's use. Everything changes, the shower, the toilet, whatever. When you step in and say something, it'll adjust for a woman's use."

"Then he's definitely not going to want to leave. I'll have to remind him when we return that everything's still manual." Keiko sits on the bed. "I envy you, girl. You travel in a spaceship, go to other planets, and then come back here and live with automatic stuff everywhere."

Yusuke walks back out and sits with them. "Did that bathroom know I had to pee? And it does everything for me. Where can we buy that for our house?"

"You want to put a robotic bathroom in our 21st century Japanese-styled home. Okay the price is one arm and one leg. How are you supposed to fight like that with both missing?" asks Keiko, "And what would Genkai say if she saw you like that?"

"She would have to come to our house and say, 'Well, at least he got a neat bathroom for that price.'"

"Right, that will the first thing she says. More like, 'What the hell were you thinking?'"

"I'll get out of your hair. It's 2:45 now. If you can hold out until 5:00, that's when we're meeting Fry for dinner."

"That's sort of early," replies Keiko.

"I know but you still want to hit Macy's. Shizuru's money is burning a hole in her pocket."

"Mine too."

"The store is open until 9:00, so that's why we're eating early."

"What do I do?" asks Yusuke.

"Fry wants to take you guys out on the town and show you around. There's an Ape Fight tonight at the Madison Cube Gardens."

"What's that?" he laughs.

"It's just how it sounds. Gorillas in a wrestling ring fighting each other."

"You know, how you and Kuwabara used to fight."

"That's it, woman. I'll make you pay for that." Leela walks out of the apartment and walks down to 3-I and knocks on the door.

"Doors open," shouts Shizuru's voice.

Leela presses the door to open and walks in. "I was just checking to see how things are going for you. Seeing if you're settling okay."

She sees Shizuru with a towel around her body and her hair soaking wet. "Oh sorry, I didn't realize you were showering," Leela blushes and turning her face.

"No I just got done, but I could have stayed in there forever. The temperature was perfect, there are jets of water shooting from everywhere…"

"The soap comes out with the water on the wash setting," explains Leela.

"I know that was neat. That toilet is neat too. I peed before showering and when I got done, it turned itself into a bidet. I feel like we're staying at the Ritz."

"Welcome to the century of automation," laughs Leela, "You're going to get used to automatic stuff quickly. I don't know if you want to leave after two weeks. If you really want to know, that shower is also a tub. If you're into bubble baths or Jacuzzis, then there are settings for both."

"I want to live here. Where can we get a shower like that? When we're done with that stinky old dragon, I want to come back here," whines Shizuru, "We can go back to Resort Planet and then come home to Robot City."

"Whatever, it's yours," replies Kurama, while taking a nap on the bed.

"Oh what a promise. How do I believe someone who's talking in his sleep?" she pouts.

"I'll leave you be. Dinner's at 5:00. Then we're going to Macy's and Fry's taking you boys out on the town. There's an Ape Fight he wants to take you to."

Leela walks back out into the hallway and returns to her apartment. She sees Botan asleep on the sofa and Hiei resting in the bedroom.

"Your back?" he asks, as she flops onto the bed.

"I was checking on everyone. Maybe we made a mistake. I think both Yusuke and Shizuru don't want to leave after two weeks."

"Oh why?" he asks, rhetorically.

"The bathroom's too neat. Does everything for you. Even adjusts to whoever's using it."

"Botan might not either. Right after you went to help Yusuke and Keiko, she flopped onto that sofa-bed. She's been in there, purring like a kitten, ever since."

"If we do anything in here, she won't notice." She reaches around to her back and unfastens her bra then lies on her back. He rolls next to her and puts his hand under her shirt and massages her breasts.

"Can you remove your shirt? I don't have one on. Maybe we can both be topless."

"We've got a couple hours. Dinner isn't until 5:00." She sits back up and removes both her tank top and bra and lays them in a pile on the floor, on her side of the bed. She lies back down on her back.

"That was a trick. I'm hungry now," he replies, sucking on one of her tits.

"Oh come on, dinner first then sweets later tonight." She pries his mouth off her breasts and kisses his forehead, "How about resting your head there and relax." He sighs and rests his head on her chest.

"Oof, my back is driving me…" Leela rubs her nails against his back. "Oh yeah, thank you," he sighs, about half asleep.

"So what's the plan tonight?"

"After dinner, we'll turn you boys loose and let you hang out with Fry. He's got four tickets to the Ape Fight at Madison Cube Gardens, then you tour the town."

"What's an Ape Fight? Is it anything useful to watch?"

"They've got two huge gorillas riding on tricycles in a wrestling ring trying to kill each other."

"Um…okay so it's not useful."

"It's fun to watch. Whatever happens, like if one of them throws the tricycle or feces towards you, don't get all mad. Just laugh at them. You can wash off any feces when you get back."

"I've been involved with so many demon tournaments. Never had I had anyone throw their shit at me."

"Can I lay on you for awhile? I'll be gentle." The two switch places and she rests her head on his chests, curling up like a puppy.

"Are you planning to wear that braid all night?"

"I shower tonight and keep it in. Then I'll remove it and let my hair become all soft and wavy. I'll do it just for you, baby." She runs her fingers around his stomach.

"What's that for?" he starts to laugh, "Hey that tickles."

"You don't laugh nearly enough. So I'll solve that problem now." She continues tickling him.

"Is that it? You're in deep trouble, young lady." He races his fingers around her stomach, making her squirm. She giggles trying to get away, when she accidentally rolls off the bed and hits the floor. "You okay?"

"Yes," she replies, sliding back onto the bed, "but you'd better do CPR on me anyways." He locks lips with hers. Suddenly he looks at the time on her wristband.

"Dear, it's 4:00." Immediately, Leela sits back up and sees Botan standing in the doorway.

"Oh sorry, I didn't realize." Leela folds her arms over her chest. "How…uh…how long were you?"

"What are you apologizing for? This is your home, isn't it? I just got up. I would have slept forever, but we've got plans, right? Besides I have other reasons to be up."

"Oh, left wall second door. Press the button and say something when you get inside."

"Thank you. Don't mind me."

"I'll use it after you."

Botan opens the door. "What do I…okay." The door slides shut behind her. Leela walks over to the closet and presses the button. She rummages through her clothes to find a salmon-pink dress with a ruby belt.

"Where did you get that from?" he asks.

"I bought it last year. I've got a blue one with sapphires too. Hey Botan, are you about done?"

"Yes, I got done but now it's spraying me in the butt."

"There's no toilet paper so that's what it does. I've got a dress out here if you want to borrow it for tonight. It'll match your hair. I've also got a pink one."

"Hang on," she hollers. The door opens and she walks back through. "Can I see?" Leela shows her. "They're both so beautiful. I like the free-flowing neckline. Are those bra cups in the bust line?"

"You don't need a bra. That supports you. I bought one for Shizuru's birthday."

"She would love something like this. This is definitely something Kurama's never seen her in."

"Pick a color. I want to shower real fast and get ready."

"Then can I have it next? I'll take…the blue one. How fast can you shower?"

"Less than five minutes in that shower."

"That's all?" Leela makes a fast dash into the bathroom.

"If you wear that, you'll make Shizuru jealous at you," comments Hiei.

"I know but what can I do?" Botan stretches, "This place is incredible. I don't mean this apartment. I don't understand why Leela would give this up and live in the 21st century. I would love to fly over this city just once on my own. I've got this watch with maps so I can't get lost. This will come in handy when I have to track cases down. Some people die without warning and without a place prepared for them."

"Wouldn't that be overkill? You're able to track dead souls down on your own."

"What about you? When you don't have a demon to kill or someone to spar against, you become so restless, it's irritating. Now you've got something to play with."

Leela steps back out into the room with a towel around her. "Shower's free. What are you arguing about now? I'm supposed to do that."

"That was fast," comments Botan.

"I told you. Those shower jets work really fast." Botan slips back into the bathroom.

"So you've got quick showers here?"

Leela sits on the bed. "When I'm in a hurry yes. But perhaps tonight, I'll take a bubble bath and you can take it with me if you want."

"I thought baths were suppose to make you clean, not dirty."

Leela winks at him and walks back toward the closet to a chest of drawers, slowly dropping her towel. She opens the top drawer. She seductively pulls out a pair of pink panties and slides them past her legs.

"Are you trying to get me aroused? Because it's working," he comments.

She walks back and sits on the bed. "Baby, that's the whole idea." She leans towards him and kisses him. He swiftly grabs her with both arms and madly kisses her.

"This is how much I want you right now." Just then he hears a knock on the bathroom door. "Damn it, that's all I get?"

"You get the rest later on," Leela smiles as she sits erect on the bed. "Come in," Leela replies, as she slides her legs through her dress and pulls it over her body until the belt meets her waist. Botan opens the door and she's her in the midst of dressing.

"Is that how you dress? Just slip it on?"

"Yes. That's how. Oh…dear, could you get ready too?"

"Of course," he replies, sitting up.

"I've got something you can borrow too. Fry left it here one time and has probably forgotten about it." Leela walks back to the closet. "Actually he left two things." Leela pulls out a silky maroon shirt. "This will go great with your belt."

"How did he forget something like that?" asks Botan.

"He and Kuwabara share the same brain," sighs Hiei taking the shirt from Leela, "Didn't his sister tell you?"

"Oh right."

"I'm going to change in there, because I know Botan doesn't want me to see her naked." Quickly the door closes behind him.

"You dressed in front of him?"

"You were busy showering and well…he's used to seeing me naked…so…"

"Yeah sure, make him even less interested in 'Boys Night Out' and more 'Hot Future Sex' with you." "May I borrow?" Botan asks while looking at the chest of drawers in the closet, "Mine are in there. I could have been in there all day in that shower."

"Shizuru said the same thing. I think both she and Yusuke are sold on this place already."

"Of course he would be. If everything is done for you."

"For a man, it goes so far as to lift the seat up for him."

"Then he's definitely going to want that. It's going to be hard to give it up after two short weeks. I'm surprised you're willing to part with this. If it were me, I'd turn in my time card and name tag to Koenma and say goodbye."

"And then what?" laughs Leela, "You need a job to live here. That's how I got roped into piloting the Planet Express ship and becoming captain of it. The professor made the damn thing but refuses to fly it anywhere past the moon."

"Maybe I can be hired by the Decapod 10's Heaven. They're much more courteous than the ogres. You want to know who made that gate. They did centuries ago. Lord Enma wanted the place to be golden and red in color, but then he hired ogre decorators, and that's their idea of beautiful. Now the same ogres are running the office and it's total chaos. If there were such a thing as Spirit World awards, those lobsters would take first place for certain."

"Knock, knock," calls out Keiko's voice. Botan quickly slips her dress on and Leela pulls her arms through the fluffy straps.

"Come in. We're almost ready." The bathroom door reopens, and Hiei walks out.

"Perfect look there, dear. That shirt is so you," smiles Leela, as she walks back into the bathroom, rummaging through her pants on the floor. She pulls out her debit-card book and her apartment key. She slips both into a pocket in one of the bra cups. Finally she walks out to greet her friends.

"Botan, wow that looks…where did you get that?" asks Shizuru.

"She gave it to me, for tonight." Leela finds two red slip-on shoes in the closet and walks into them. "Does this dress come with shoes too?" asks Botan. Leela kicks out two blue slip-ons from the closet for her. Botan slips into them with ease.

"I bought these two last year from Macy's. There was a Freedom Day sale, so they were 80% off. I like your dress too, Shizuru. Royal blue. That cut on your bust line is good. Nice cleavage. That skirt drops to your knees. Did your guy see you like that?"

"I dresses while he was in the bathroom, so no."

"Keiko, that jade color looks awesome. Nice cleavage. Bust line looks good. Skirt looks nice. I didn't know Japan sold these styles."

"Hey we've got a J. C. Penney's too, in Tokyo," informs Keiko. "Hiei, you awesome too. Where did you get that red shirt?"

"Same place those dresses came from. Her closet."

"That was Fry's shirt, but he left it in here and totally forgot about it."

"Isn't Fry taller than you?" asks Shizuru, "Why does it fit Hiei better?"

"That shirt is dry-clean only, but…he washed it," Leela and Shizuru say at the same time.

"I know," Shizuru sighs, "He's Kazuma's twin. I wonder if Fry was adopted out to his folks right after both were born, then my mom didn't talk about him ever."

"Maybe or your mom and his mom are identical cousins."

"Like Patty Duke, maybe." "We'd better get going. Our two boys are already at the car."

"Dear," Leela says to Hiei, "You don't need you coat thing. It's too hot outside."

"She's right," says Keiko, "Where did you get that red watch?"

"I bought it when I got this outfit. I've already exchanged data with my regular one. The other one is way too gaudy for this dress." The group walks out of the apartment.

"Wait don't you have to lock the door?" asks Keiko.

"I forgot to lock mine too," replies Shizuru.

"There used to be a padlock system for these doors, but with so many tenants complaining about remembering the combinations, Hector finally got fed up and had the keys made and automatic locks installed. Then when nobody's in them the doors lock themselves." Leela taps the panel on the elevator. The doors swiftly open.

"Where to?" the elevator asks.

"Garage, please."

"I'm still not used to that," shrugs Shizuru.

"I'm not used to you, sister. So now we're even," it responds.

"I would be used to…" Leela covers Shizuru's mouth with her hand.

"Don't argue with him, you're only going to ride in his car for two weeks. Try to put up with him. These robots have to carry passengers everyday without rest, that's what makes him cranky."

The elevator reaches the garage and the door slides back open. "Hey guys," Shizuru calls out, strutting out of the elevator.

Yusuke whistles at her. "Hey that's mine," Kurama replies, pretending to be mad.

"Leela and Botan, you're twins." replies Yusuke. Leela walks over to the opening trunk of the hover-car and pulls out something black.

"Darling, could you come here? There was another reason I didn't want you wearing your coat-thing."

"You're looking good, man. Nice shirt," comments Yusuke.

"Close you're eyes, dear." He complies and she fits the jacket she bought him.

"Whoa, black leather jacket!"

"Check out the back," Yusuke remarks excitedly.

"Oh, Killer Dragon!" Kurama sparks.

Hiei pulls the jacket off and looks at it. "Nice golden color on him. He looks really fierce. Looks almost like me when I transform."

"I was saving it for X-Mas, but the occasion felt right. Well shall we split?" The trunk lid latches itself as all assemble into the car, with Leela driving.

"El-Zar's, please."

"Sure, can I drink my Chardonnay on the way there?"

"Where did you get that?" asks Leela.

"Some drunk guy came by while you were upstairs," explains Yusuke. "He just gave me the bottle and the car said 'Feed me' so I did."

"You didn't recognize it was the car. You thought there was a ghost nearby that said that. I had to tell you it was the car."

The car starts up and flies off immediately. "Get used to it, Yusuke. Robots talk and love alcohol. That elevator chugs a gallon every night."

"Yeah, I had an argument with the stupid thing," Yusuke replies, "I'm used to elevators that don't talk back, or back talk as it was doing."

"I had to stop him before he got into fit fight with it," sighs Kurama.

"Yeah, there's a story to tell Genkai. Yusuke was arguing with a machine when this happened. Yusuke vs. the Elevator, details at 11, " laughs Keiko.


	28. Chapter 28

"We're here," announces Leela. The car pulls up to the curb and pops open both hatches. "Hey Fry, and Amy? You're here too."

"I'm with Kiff tonight, he's talking to El Zar now."

"Is he here alone? Or is…" Leela starts to ask, biting her lip.

"He's just with me. Zapp's not here. He's back on the Nimbus. I didn't tell him you'd be over here."

"Thank you, Amy," Leela sighs.

Kiff walks out dressed in a black suit and tie. "Kiff, you look nice."

"Oh thank you, Leela. I told El Zar I needed a seat for ten people, he's in there now clearing space."

"The professor's in there with Mom. They're trying to go out without fighting for a change," informs Fry.

"Yeah, last time it was over him eating too much," sighs Leela.

Hiei offers his arm to Leela, escorting her inside. "Thank you."

"You've trained him well," whispers Botan.

"That's my hobby," laughs Leela. "El Zar! Good to see you."

"Leela, I see you've brought more friends with you."

"Your food is so good, that I want to share it with them."

"Your booth is right this way," he leads them to a huge booth in the far right corner along the wall and another booth."

"I know you, sir," replies El Zar, "You were in here earlier this week. Did you enjoy my cooking that much?"

"That was excellent," Hiei comments.

"El Zar, do you have menu? My friends never been here and they don't know what you serve."

"You have to ask for a menu, Leela?" asks Botan, "I thought that was the first thing."

"Well, beautiful, most people watch my show and know what I serve."

"They live in Japan and don't get to see your show. The TV reception there is so lousy," explains Leela.

"Okay, I get your message."

"Do you have any Neptunian Slug?" asks Fry.

"I did, but damn thing. He wouldn't cooperate, and bit one of my hands. So no, he's not on the menu tonight." "I'll be back with a menu." El Zar immediately walks away to another table.

"Doesn't he have waiters to help him?" asks Yusuke.

"He likes to do that himself. There are robot waiters roaming around." Leela looks towards the front door and sees Calculon walking in with a fembot on his arm. "Oh my gosh, Fry. Calculon's here this evening. What's his occasion?"

"Broadway's is showing a theatrical version of 'All My Circuits' tomorrow."

"Who's Calculon?" asks Keiko.

"Only one of the biggest stars in Hollywood right now," chimes Amy, "He's the director and lead actor in his own daytime soap opera."

Donbot and his robot posse approach the table, "What are you humans doing in my booth?"

"Donbot, this isn't the time," sighs Leela, "This table was ours first."

"How dare you disrespect the Don! Should I clamp her, boss?"

"I can crush you now," replies Leela, "I've defeated enemies as touch as Emperor Lrrr."

"That's a lie," replies Clamps, "Nobody can defeat him."

"I've seen her do it," assures Kurama, "She's defeated creatures much stronger and more powerful than herself."

"Leela-san fights enemies on a daily basis through a special technique she's picked up," explains Hiei.

"What technique? Show me this new thing you can do," demands Donbot. Leela holds out her palm and produces a medium round spirit bomb in her hand.

"This little ball of kinetic energy is called a 'Spirit Bomb'. I have an endless supply of these stored up. One of these beauties is enough to kill an enemy with a single blast. If I were launch it at you, Don, you'd be a broken robot."

"Oh geez, she's dangerous with that!" shrieks Clamps, "I don't want to be scrapped."

"Right, what was I thinking? Enjoy your meal. Come on, boys, there are plenty of booths with walls behind them. We could ask her later to join the Robot Mafia." The don strolls away with his posse. Leela closes her hand and reabsorbs the energy into her body.

"Interesting light show," comments El Zar, "Here's your menu. You'll have to share it." He pans between Leela and Botan. "Are you Leela's sister, sweetheart?"

"Me, her sister? No, we're just good friends."

"You know I'm an only child."

"You look alike. Although that blue hair is really pretty."

"You think so?" Botan blushes.

"Hey babe, I know a beautiful thing when I see it. You're very pretty. Ever thought about modeling?"

"I've never been…oh my," she blushes.

"Hey, El Zar, can we please figure out what the menu is?" asks Yusuke, "I didn't know you were planning to flirt with her."

"Of course, fine sir. I'll be back later when you've decided."

"He's so charming. What a sweet man, this El Zar is," comments Botan.

"Yeah and in about five minutes you were going to ask him out," laughs Shizuru.

"What's the harm? He's a ladies' man and a sweet talker."

"That's the way El Zar is, Botan," laughs Leela, "I've known him forever."

"I'm going to have bar-be-cue squab salad," says Amy.

"Yeah me too," agrees Leela, "I need the meat for fighting."

"Can't you just inject protein plus, instead?" asks Amy.

"I've been doing that, but eating real food is much better. I have been eating a lot of Japanese foods lately. So far my favorites are homemade beef ramen, sweetened rice balls, pork cutlets over white rice and sweet n' sour gravy, and curry."

"Wow," replies Amy, "My folks make that stuff sometimes. Homemade buggalo ramen is my favorite. My parents are Japanese too."

"I didn't know that," asks Shizuru.

"It's true," answers Kiff, "Amy Wong is from Japanese descent."

"Oh Wong, that's why. A few of my students have their last name as Wong. Three boys I teach are brothers," explains Yusuke, "This is a huge family too. They've got two sisters in my daughter's class, another brother in Saito's class."

"That's my son," informs Kurama.

"Yes. There's a little girl a few months older than Sakura, and didn't Mrs. Wong have her baby yet."

"No, but she's due pretty soon," replies Kurama, "With my luck, she'll pop the very day we get home. It'll be a boy too. She's even got a name for him, Akira."

"Akira Wong? Did you say…I've got an ancestor with that name," sparks Amy, "He's my father's ancestral father."

"Are you serious? So I'm about to deliver your great great grandfather from 1000 years past?"

"That's fascinating. So we knew her family before they knew us," Yusuke responds.

"As they say, 'It's a small world after all,'" replies Keiko.

"So what's this Peking Squab? Is that like Peking Duck?" asks Kurama.

"Somewhat. It's very good," recommends Fry, "Goes great with red wine."

"I'll try that. What about you, hon?"

"I'm glad Zoidberg isn't here. This king crab looks good."

"He eats that," informs Leela, "Of course he sits and argues with it first."

"That looks big though. Can I share it with you?" asks Keiko.

"Sure. I don't think I can eat all of it. I don't want to make Mr. El Zar to go through all the trouble of making it and only be able to eat half."

"I think we're ready to order. These prices are weird, though."

"Yusuke don't worry about that, Fry and I have you covered."

"Don't count us out either," replies Amy.

"I've arranged it with El Zar we want the bill split four ways," assures Kiff.

"We'll just spend our money at the store," replies Shizuru.

"I don't know if Macy's takes…" Leela starts to say.

"Leela, while you were investigating in Spirit World, Keiko and I went by the American Embassy and had some of our yen switched over to dollars," informs Shizuru. She whispers quietly to Leela, "We each took out about $1000 of spending money. Most of it is in our apartments."

"We're going to use it in more than one place. Is there a kimono shop here for special occasions like her wedding?" asks Keiko.

"No but there are dresses that look like kimonos. They're very easy to get into, despite their appearance. I plan on wearing my regular clothes underneath because I want to train afterwards."

El Zar walks back to the table. "What have you folks decided?"

"Amy and I are having Bar-be-que Squab Salad. I want light sauce though," orders Leela.

"I liked the Rock Lobster from last time, so I want that," orders Hiei.

"Shizuru and I are splitting the king crab," orders Keiko.

"Peking Squab," Kurama orders.

"Same as him," orders Yusuke.

"Salad, please," orders Botan.

"Buggalo brisket," orders Fry.

"Green-meat jello," orders Kiff.

"What to drink?" asks El Zar.

"We'll make it easy, red wine all around," orders Kurama.

"Make Fry's, Kiff's, and mine the non-alcoholic type."

"How come?" asks Fry.

"Because you know the law about flying while intoxicated is only legal to robots," reminds Leela. "I don't think the first night spent in jail would go over with our friends."

"How long could they hold us?" asks Shizuru.

"All night if they felt like it," replies Leela.

"Eee, wrong answer. Try five minutes. My husband here is a master thief and an excellent escape artist. And if he can't get out, your boyfriend is a born criminal who's too quick to catch. He'll be out of a cage in two seconds."

"She's right," agrees Botan, "Plus murdering whomever he loathes is Hiei's most favorite hobby. Amy and Kiff, whatever you do, try to keep Zapp away from Leela as much as possible. Because he rarely goes back on his word about killing someone."

"Quit flattering me, Botan. I'm trying to be good. I don't want Leela's people to get the wrong impression about me, or get her in trouble."

"So why are you eager to take us shopping?" asks Keiko.

"I just felt like it. I'm trying to decide. Usually I'm so impulsive. Sorry if this seems rude, but how much do Spirit World folks make?"

"About 1000 yen an hour. I'm making 1500 yen with each trip out."

"Is that good money?"

"Yes, but I think the job Koenma is wanting you for pays way better. You'd be making 50000 yen. That's half the salary he gets paid."

"Leela what are you thinking?" asks Fry.

"I need a career change. I'm really considering taking the Spirit Lieutenant job."

"You'd give up all the luxuries of this automatic stuff for the 21st century?" asks Keiko.

"I've lived in your world and don't care if it's all manual. I like it simple. Also the automatic stuff doesn't always work when you want them to. One night my bathroom door wouldn't open and I had just come back from a Slurm drinking contest. I walked out of my apartment to get the manager, but couldn't find him. The elevator refused to open. So as you can imagine at that point I was getting desperate. There is a flight of stairs beside the elevator, so I flew down the stairs all the way to the garage. I tried to get into my car, because the driver's side seat opens into the tank and is able to burn biological waste for fuel. But I forgot my wrist-thing and it won't open without it. I couldn't go back upstairs because I couldn't hold it for much longer. There is a large open drain in the floor of the garage and luckily nobody was parked over it, and that became my salvation. I didn't care who saw me. I sat over the drain and ended the problem with one really long pee."

"So the moral is…?" asks Keiko.

"The moral is don't knock you're manual stuff. At least the most needed stuff works, even when the machines don't."

"That's nothing compared to what I've had happen to me with these machines," replies Fry, "Why do you think I want to go back? One time I almost died because of these machines. Santa Claus is the worst of them. Leela was lonely on Christmas and I bought her this $500 parrot. The damn thing bit me on the nose and flew out of the cage. Well I was searching for that bird around 8:00 on Christmas Eve and she spotted me. Santa did too and was firing missiles at us. He pinned us in a doorway and was about to kill us when that parrot got in the way of the missile he launched our way."

"Those three robots you saw," explains Amy, "are the heads of the Robot Mafia. Donbot is their leader. It was lucky that Leela has that power now, and I know you guys are pretty powerful yourselves, especially Yusuke and Hiei. If you weren't like that, just common folks like most who live here, you would have to move and let him sit here."

"No wonder you'd give it up," replies Keiko, watching El Zar bringing their orders to them. "This world sounds dangerous. There are robots in our era but they don't try to kill you or force you to pee outside."

"That's not the only reason. You're forced to work, whether you want to or not. Not even expecting mothers get a reprieve," sighs Leela.

"That's just wrong," shrills Keiko, "I've got two teachers out on maternity leave. Mrs. Kensuke is having twins and is one of Kurama's patients."

"Yes and I think they are identical twin girls. She's due in late August."

"I've also had one teacher take the week off for personal reasons. Towards the end of May, his wife lost her battle with cancer."

"You don't get one here," sighs Amy, "You have to work the day of the funeral."

"My parents are mutants like me and are forced to live in the sewers. I can live up here, only because I look mostly normal except for my eye. When I met Hiei for the first time, I was afraid he was going to make fun of me. Nobody likes cyclopes up here. I get called all sorts of names. At least in your world, the only person who called me a name was Kuwabara. The rest of you haven't. I feel more at home in your world. You welcomed me without judgment. You took me kimono shopping, which was fun. Then you included me into your social group without hesitation. Your children like me. Hiro isn't scared by me. And Hiei loved me from almost day one. Koenma gave powers to make me stronger. And Genkai's a really sweet woman and a wonderful coach for power training. I feel I have more of a purpose in your era. Because of this, I want to stay there in your era. What's the point of staying here with nothing in my life, when in the century you're from I've got everything I need." Leela stares at her food, trying to blink tears from her eye.

"Leela, you're welcome to call Tokyo home," assures Keiko, "I love hanging out with you. I like hearing stories of the future from you. You ought to become a science fiction writer by drawing from your life story. You're a good friend. I know Hiro adores you. You're becoming like his mom. I'll bet his first words will be mama when he looks at you. Then when he starts crawling and then walking, he'll look to you for guidance."

"So Leela's a mother now?" asks Amy.

"To my son, yes. She takes care of him. She loves bathing him in the sink. She changes him. He had his first cold back in June and was especially cranky. She stayed up half the night caring for him. The next morning, I found her asleep in a rocking chair holding him in her arms. I told Genkai about it and she gave Leela the day off from training. She let Leela sleep at the temple."

"Hey Leela, can you show me where the Ladies' Room is?" asks Botan. Leela excuses herself and Botan does likewise and both walk towards the far back of the seating area towards the restrooms. Leela walks in first and next to a wall beside the row of stalls. Botan follows her and hears Leela snuff back tears.

"What am I supposed to do? I want to leave this era for yours, but I don't want to leave my friends behind or disappoint the professor. I want to give my parents a better life but they've got friends down there. Koenma's job for me feels so right but I love space travel. What do I do?"

Botan holds Leela in her arms, letting her cry, "I know this is a hard decision for you," Botan whispers, rubbing her back, "It's okay to doubt what your heart tells you is the right path in life. I know you know what you want. You've made your choice. It's just hard to make decisions this difficult. I say go with what you believe is right. I know your friends in this century might be hurt if you decide to stay 1000 years in the past. However if you stayed in the era most uncomfortable for you, you'd be the one hurting."

"You think I should stay in your world, Botan?"

"Isn't that where you are called to go? You've got someone else who'd be hurt if you remained here."

"Couldn't he live here? Mukuro's here in…"

"When she was alive, she didn't trust him or love him unconditionally. That's all Hiei had to love him. He has his friends, but he wanted real love. At first she wanted to love him and make him happy, but she knew her time was coming and she wanted him to not feel lonely anymore. When she was pregnant with Hiro, she wanted him to have a piece of her as a lasting memory of her. He wanted to marry her, but if she wanted that, then it wouldn't have taken ten years together, more like three years."

"Then I come to him and…"

"For as long as I've known him, Hiei's never opened up. This is the first time heard him laugh, or seen him so happy. He doesn't cry ever, or not until now. Most of the time he wouldn't come to someone's aide, except for Yukina. His sister was the only person he'd ever help out of a bind. When he defended you against Zapp both at the stadium and this morning in the hotel, that was the first time I had seen that."

"You really think I should go with him and take care of Hiro."

"Stop saying the almost part. When Hiei told Amy that story about his baby's first cold, I trying hard not to cry. Leela, you are his mom now, whether you are married to Hiei now or not. Most girlfriends don't take care of their boyfriend's kids, especially not off the bat. You're doing things a real mom does for her baby. You change him, feed him, play with him, and sing him to sleep. You've even taken him to the temple and Genkai has given you her bed to let him sleep on while you train. You are a mom now. You can tell your mother she's a grandma."

"I was practicing against Kuwabara one day when he was not sleeping well. Genkai went to him and tried soothing him. I called it quits with the training and was about to pick him up, when Genkai had an idea. Hiro has a papoose he can be placed in. I strapped that to my back and started speed training with him strapped in. I ran 50 mph with him on my back and he just passed out. I think he's used to Hiei's speed, and mine really relaxed him."

Leela sighs deeply, "I guess I'm just scared to admit my decision to myself or to anyone right now."

"Give it time. Don't rush into anything. It'll take a while to get adjusted."

"I know what I want. Will Koenma give me the job?" 

"He wants to. He thinks you're qualified for it."

"I'll take it then. I want to be a Spirit Lieutenant."

"Then the job is yours. You can tell him in two weeks."

"Two weeks, that's the time I'd need to say goodbye to the professor for good."

"Yes but don't rush it."

Leela suddenly feels someone approaching fast. "I think we'd better rush." Leela and Botan make a quick dash out of the restroom, just to sideswipe a woman racing with her hand clamped tight around her mouth.

"Do you know her?" asks Botan.

"I felt her coming. Lets hurry back to our table before we hear it."

"Hear what? Oh," they heard the woman lurching.

"The sound of her food coming up."

El Zar approaches the girls with a worried look. "What happened?" asks Leela.

"She ordered oyster sunrise and I tried explaining that was a shellfish's favorite taste."

"What's oyster sunrise?" asks Botan.

"Tuna soaked in oyster juice. That's the same stuff that made Hiei barf from just smelling it."

El Zar sighs, "Humans with weak stomachs shouldn't eat it. I put warnings up for folks."

"Have you had it Leela?"

"No, oyster juice stinks. I'm not nearly as weak stomached, though."

"Then I wonder why Hiei got sick," ponders Botan.

"He could be allergic to the stink," suggests El Zar.

The girls wander back to their booth. "You two okay?" asks Yusuke.

"We're fine. I've got a surprise for Koenma when we get home. I'll take the job. I want to be a Spirit Lieutenant."

"All right," cheers Keiko.

"Congratulations," smiles Kurama, "Welcome aboard."

"Will he hire me?"

"Count on it," assures Yusuke.

"What does that mean?" asks Fry.

"It means a nice salary, great use of my skills as a fighter, I take on cases files, hire spirit detectives..."

"You get a much longer lifespan than any humans, almost a demon's span," explains Botan, "The health plan is you recover almost immediately from injuries."

"Are there sick days, vacations, or maternity leave?"

"That can be arranged. If you get married and/or become pregnant with Hiei's baby, there are things Koenma can do for you. He'll tell you if and when that comes up. This is a brand new job he's testing out."

"So I guess we won't be seeing you anymore," sighs Fry in a sad voice.

"I will return for visitation but I will have a visitor's chip implanted. You guys need that by the way," reminds Leela, "The demand is for you to work here. But there are visitor chips that allow you to stay here without working. It means you're just visiting."

"Where do you get that?" asks Yusuke.

"Down at the police station," informs Fry, "It's just a quick poke in the hand. The poke hurts but that's it. The pain only lasts a few seconds. Feels like a tiny bee sting."

"I've been through worse pain," shrugs Kurama, "So are we ready?"

"You're not done with your squab," points out Shizuru.

"A squab is pigeon meat. I thought it would be tiny. This thing is about the size of a young turkey."

"You're the one that likes a lot of meat, dear."

"I know but damn."

"Don't worry, Kurama, he doesn't throw food away. What you don't eat is given to places like Cookieville Orphanarium," informs Leela.

"What about that oyster sunrise that made that one girl sick?" asks Botan.

"To the Decapod 10 Embassy. Shellfish love oyster sunrise. Hiei, you stay away from that dish. It's tuna soaked in oyster juice."

"Thanks for the warning," he replies, sticking out his tongue in disgust.

"How was your meal, folks?" asks El Zar.

"Fantastic, as usual," compliments Fry.

"Sorry, my eyes were bigger than my stomach," replies Kurama.

"That's okay, sir," smiles El Zar.

"Can we have the check now?" asks Leela.

"Way ahead of you. Here you go."

Leela pulls out her card book from her pocket under her bust pocket and removes her debit card. Fry remove his debit card from his pants, and Amy and Kiff do the same.

"Thank you, I'll be back shortly," promises El Zar.

"Hey Leela," says Amy, "I almost forgot to ask, what does Hiro look like." Leela pulls up his holograph on her red wristband. "Aw, he's so cute." Leela shows her another holograph of her holding him. "Aw, you look like a mother holding him."

"I love him like he was my son."

"He is our son," sighs Hiei, "You're his mom now, Leela."

"He's still Mukuro's son though, and besides we're not married yet…"

"I don't care about the legal crap. You're taking care of my…our son. When he grows up, he'll refer to you as mom anyways. I'll give you the role now. You're a mother now."

"That's great news," chimes Amy, "Congratulations Leela."

"I don't…this feels so strange. I don't know…"

"Welcome to my world," assures Keiko, "That's the same reaction I had when Megumi was born."

"Same with Saito," smiles Shizuru, "When I had him, it took me awhile for that name to sink in. When he called me mama for the first time, I cried. We both know what you're going through."

"But you had nine months to get used to the concept. I just don't…"

"It'll take time," reassures Botan, "Just like settling into your new job as Spirit Lieutenant. Except the title of mother will be more endearing to you."

"So should I tell my parents?"

"Tell them they've got a grandson now? That's a parent's dream," sighs Amy.

"I'm back," announces El Zar. "What's the matter, Leela? Why are you just staring like that?"

"I'm a…I'm a…mother."

"You are? Did my food make you pregnant?"

"No, she's a mother to my son. She's just taking the news a little hard."

"I'll be fine I just…" Leela blacks and collapses to the floor.

Hiei picks her up and sets her on the booth again. "Get her some water," he tells El Zar.

"It'll be on the house." El Zar dashes into the kitchen and hurries back out with a small glass of water.

Slowly Leela comes to and sees Hiei holding her against his body. "Are you okay, my dear?" he asks.

"What happened?"

"You fainted," informs Kurama.

"Sorry you got the news all at once like that," sighs Hiei, "I realize it's a new concept for you. Give it time to sink in."

"That's the same reaction I had," explains Keiko. "When I found out, I became light-headed."

"Think how I felt," replies Yusuke, "The concept of being someone's father was more than I could imagine. It took me a very long time to sink in."

"Think about me when I found out," sighs Kurama, "You only had 20-something years to wait for a wife and a child. It took me 1000 years going without either. Not that I never had opportunities to settle down with a vixen. There were plenty of vixens around. I was just so full of myself as Yoko that I didn't find the right one until I met Kiyoko. She was the spirit fox that held the soul of that stillborn baby until she found a place in Shizuru's unborn body."

"I didn't have that problem," replies Hiei.

"That's because you were trying to get Mukuro pregnant. She wanted that."

"This was her second pregnancy. The first one failed in a miscarriage."

"Well, I'm feeling better," Leela chimes, "So should we head out?"

"Kiff and I were in Fry's car. Can I come with you, Leela?"

"Sure, we're going to Macy's. I want to go to the Infant and Children's department. I think there is a sale now for infant boys. I want to get something for my son."

"Don't rush it," replies Keiko. Leela slips the debit card into her bust pocket and walks out of the restaurant with her girlfriends.

"Are you good to fly?" asks Amy.

"I'll be fine."

"No, I know that look, Leela," says Shizuru, "I don't want you flying into someone."

"I'll fly for you," requests Amy, "Hey Car, can I fly you?"

"Why isn't Leela flying?" asks the car.

"She doesn't feel well."

"Oh I see. Sure you can pilot me tonight." The hatches pop open and Amy sits in the pilot seat and Leela takes the front passenger side. The doors latch behind the girls.

"Take us to Macy's please." The rocket boosters start and launch the car into the air.

"Leela, just close your eye and relax," recommends Keiko, "Just think, in your whole life, did you ever have at least this one dream? Many girls have the dream of being together with Mr. Right and one day having his baby. My dreams came true when Yusuke and I went steady back in junior high. We had been friends since childhood."

"I was that way when Kurama and I got close. Then we were married. And then on our first anniversary, I became pregnant with our son. That was my Christmas present for him. Saito was born right at midnight on Christmas Day."

Leela sighs with a dreamy smile across. "I'm thinking about taking Hiei with me into the sewers with me tomorrow and introducing him to my parents."

"You should," replies Amy, "I know your mother would be pleased."

"Are you going to tell her you're adopting Hiro?" asks Keiko.

"I want mom to know about him. Eventually I want to introduce him personally."

"You will. I'll bet she'll love him."

The car arrives in front of the huge mega store and pops both hatches. "Wow this is Macy's?" Shizuru asks staring at the building with wide eyes.

"I thought you've been to New York," replies Leela.

"Yes, and I saw the Macy's there, but this one is huge."

"You should see it at X-Mas time," comments Amy.

"Just not on X-Mas Eve. That's when Robot Santa's out," warns Leela.

"No big deal," smiles Keiko, "We'll just come back here a week before."

"There you go," laughs Shizuru, "And next time we bring Yukina."

"This year will be Hiro's first X-Mas," sighs Leela, "I want to make things extra special for him."

"Take him to see Santa," suggests Shizuru, "Our Santa, not yours."

"Right, your Santa is a sweet old man that loves children and gives them nice presents," comments Leela, "Maybe bring Yuki there too. It'll be her first Christmas also."


	29. Chapter 29

The girls walk into the store and both Botan and Shizuru's eyes glaze over the huge foyer. Keiko sees a row of shopping carts straight ahead beside the first checkout lane. "Why is there a mat-thing under the cart?"

"You step on that," Amy explains, "You don't move the cart, but rather it moves you. You tell the cart what department you want and it'll teleport both you and it to the proper area. It also goes so far as to take you to one of the nearest restrooms if you need one."

"That's handy. I was in one of the malls in Tokyo, back when Megumi was two and being potty trained. I was in a dressing room when she had to go. I asked one of the attendants where the bathroom was. It was in the back of the store. I ran as fast as I could but we only got halfway there when she couldn't hold it and wet herself."

"Poor thing," sympathizes Shizuru, "I've had the same problem with Saito. He made it in time but just barely. One time his dad took him to the zoo and he didn't make it then. What Kurama did was sweet though. He knew Saito wasn't going to make it, so he snuck him under a bush and against a wall, keeping him out of anyone's sight. He told me about that when they got home."

"What a nice guy," replies Amy.

Leela takes a cart, "Infant and Children, please." The other four girls repeat the same to their carts.

"Does this place have toys?" asks Keiko.

"Yes, there's a huge toy place here," replies Leela, "I was planning to pick out toys for Hiro. I want an activity center for his crib. I know babies love mirrors, so I want to find something with a mirror. But first I want to find something for him to wear. I want something warm when he's at the temple. It can get chilly, even in summer."

"He has clothes. Didn't you take him shopping last week?" asks Shizuru.

"Yes, but he wasn't behaving well. The only time he would stop crying was when I would hold him."

"Aw how cute," sighs Amy.

"Leela, you are his mom. Just face it," smiles Botan.

"She's right," sighs Keiko, "You love Hiro like a mother should. You love his dad, unconditionally. It won't be long before you're married to him, anyways."

"I can tell by the way Hiei acts around you, he wants to marry you. I've never seen him act this way towards any girl, human or demon," comments Shizuru.

"You make love to him so often, it's like you want another kid," whispers Botan.

"I've got a chastity tube inside me that prevents conceptions. I won't remove it until we're married for awhile."

"So this century has the most perfect birth control devices. Not that I want one," Shizuru smirks.

"Why's that?" asks Keiko.

"Don't tell anyone but we're trying again."

"Seriously?" asks Botan. "Third kid?"

"Yukina has her daughter and now Leela has a son, but that's not the only reason. I want another baby."

"That would make Sakura a middle child," Botan states the obvious.

Leela squirms, "I can't stand it. I want mom to see him. I want her to see Hiro. It's just not enough to show her a picture. Besides I know Hiei misses him already. I would only be gone for a few minutes."

Keiko laughs at her, "I know that feeling all too well."

"There's a baby hammock here on sale," Leela flies the cart towards a bedroom display. She shows a sky-blue cotton hammock with a teddy-bear pattern in an array across the fabric. A soft mattress squares off the bottom of the hammock.

"Calm down, Leela," replies Keiko, "I said don't rush things."

"I know I shouldn't be so impulsive. Still he needs something when he comes here. I want to have something in the apartment for him. This hammock is ideal for apartment living. Set up is instant." Leela picks up a blue-colored cube and puts it in her cart.

"I'll take a pink one," Keiko shrugs, "One of my friends from school is having a girl in November, so the rest of the staff is throwing her a surprise baby shower."

"I also want to get him clothes for when he comes here."

"Will it be all right if I go to the Ladies Department?" asks Shizuru.

"I'll come with you," replies Amy, "I want to show you how things work."

"I'll join you later," hollers Leela, watching the two girls teleport away.

"I'll stay here and buy stuff for Yoshi. Besides, I'm not as big of a shop-a-holic as Shizuru," replies Keiko.

"Thanks. I'm sorry if I'm acting this way," sighs Leela.

"It's all right. You're a new mom, and I understand what you're going through. You're lucky though, you got the kid without getting pregnant. When I found out I was pregnant with Megumi and told Yusuke, this by the way was during a demon tournament, the next week I couldn't get out of the hotel because I was handcuffed to the toilet. It became my friend for the rest of the tournament. Then when I found out about Yoshi, same thing happened. Face in the toilet."

"So how are you doing with the new concept now?" asks Botan, "I know Hiei wasn't trying to overload you like that. He's not very good with subtly, he just states the facts as is."

"I know I'm supposed to train. I can't do that if he's with me. And what if I get into a fight in the meantime. Then there's always somebody wanting to attack Earth."

"Then I'll baby-sit," volunteers Keiko, "You know I'm not much use when it comes to battle. I haven't got any spirit energy at all. Besides it wasn't that long ago when I had Yoshi. He's just turned two."

"Thanks," smiles Leela, "I'll go tonight when everyone's asleep. I want to surprise Hiei tomorrow morning."

"Do you need a car seat?" Keiko asks, looking at a shelf full of them.

"Those are holographs, by the way." Leela picks up a floppy disk, "You slip this into either the passenger side or back seat and the car and it transforms the seat into a car seat. These holographs are showing what they look like."

"What if you want to remove the seat?"

"The seats in the car are removable. Whichever seat is made into a car seat is removed. When you want the seat reverted back, you pop the disk back out and it returns to normal. If I were you, don't buy it for that friend of your. These only work on hover-cars made from the last 100 years."

"I thought you said hover-cars were invented 200 years ago," replies Botan.

"Yes but these car seats where invented 100 years ago."

Leela hovers the cart towards the clothes. She sees a rack of tiny leather jackets. "Oh my goodness, I didn't know this." She pulls out a black jacket with the same dragon design on the back.

"Oh, cute," chimes Botan, "Just like what you gave to Hiei tonight."

"Like father, like son," smiles Keiko.

"What time are you going to leave here?" asks Botan.

"Midnight here, but I can make the destination time to be 7:00. I want to check on things anyways. We left so fast that I didn't say goodbye to Hiro. I wanted to, but then we just left like that. Hiei didn't even say goodbye or see you soon. I don't want to scar the poor kid, making him think we just abandoned him. I don't want him left alone."

"Leela, it's okay. Those two understand what you do is dangerous. Kuwabara should know more than anyone about living such a violent lifestyle. They also know you wouldn't abandon Hiro. You just needed to spend time with Hiei, that's all. You spend everyday with him. Perhaps bringing him here would make Hiei happy. He tries to spend as much time as he can with his boy, but then he has to guard that border against intruding demons."

"I just want Hiro to have a normal happy childhood. I want to be there for him when he starts crawling. When he takes his first steps. I want to be there to comfort him when he starts teething. And when he calls me…mom," Leela sighs with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"And you'll cry when he calls you that," replies Keiko, "That happened with both of my kids. I cried really hard when Megumi said it. Yusuke was there when she said her first word, and hugged me until I stopped. That didn't help because his hug only made me cry harder."

Leela stares at the rack of jackets. "I don't what happened. I had all this excitement of coming to get Hiro gifts, but now…"

"Hey let's go to toys. Aren't you getting something for him like an activity center?" asks Botan.

"Sure, I've got to snap out of this mood anyways. If I'm like this at training, then I'll never get anywhere."

"That's another reason for bringing him here so you can focus more on training and less time worrying about how Hiro's doing. He'll be like your reward after a good hard fight," replies Keiko.

Leela orders her cart to go to the Toys Department. Keiko and Botan repeat her and arrive together in the department. "I love this section," chimes Keiko.

"We've only got an hour though," sighs Leela. She patches in to Shizuru's wristband. "Where are you now?"

"I'm in the Men's. I want to pick something up for Kurama."

"Watch your time. The store closes at 9:00 and they close the doors whether you're outside or not."

"That's very strange, Leela," replies Shizuru.

"Meet down at the checkout lanes at 8:30, okay."

"Check ten, Roger." Shizuru cuts the transmission off.

"They really do that?" asks Keiko.

"Oh yeah. One time Fry was in here searching for my birthday gift and spent the night here by mistake."

"Is that suppose to be one more nail on the coffin he'll share with Kuwabara?" asks Botan.

"Why does he do that?"

"Yes, on more than one occasion," answers Keiko.

Leela hovers towards infant toys, when she bumps into the cart of a brunette man. "Leela, is that you?"

"Chas, long time. How are you?"

"Who's this?" asks Keiko.

"This is Chas. He was the Mayor's aide."

"I still am, Leela. What are you doing in infant toys?"

"I've got a son now."

"When did that happen? You had a baby with someone."

"Actually I'm going steady with his father. The thing is his birth mother died a month after he was born, and I've been taking care of him. I'm going to adopt him and marry his father."

"You must really love this man. You're never one to go steady with anyone. So what's the guy's name?"

"His name is Hiei."

"That's an unusual name. Where do you get a name like that?"

"He's Japanese."

"What about you two ladies? That blue-haired one looks like your sister."

"I don't have a sister. This is Botan and the brunette is Keiko."

"Are they from the same country as your fellow?"

"Japan, yes," replies Keiko, bowing to him.

"Oh yeah, I've seen that custom of greeting before. So are you seeing anyone?"

"I'm married," explains Keiko, "with two kids."

"I'm single but not looking for anyone right now."

"Aren't you involved with Koenma?" asks Leela.

"Yes, when he's not busy. But that's seldom."

"Wouldn't me being a lieutenant lighten his load?"

"I think that's one reason why he wants to hire you."

"So Chas, what are you doing in this area?"

"Didn't you know? The mayor's daughter is having a baby."

"Aw, how sweet. Mayor Wibbenmeyer is going to be a grandpa. What's is she having?"

"A girl. She's coming in January. The mayor's wife is throwing her a shower."

"Oh geez it's almost time to meet Shizuru and Amy." Leela grabs a blue stuffed bear with a mirror on its belly. "See you later Chas."

"You too. Enjoy motherhood."

"Isn't this it? This whole time shopping and I get four items."

"We can come back later," assures Keiko, "You're best gift is Hiei's blessing to you about being Hiro's mother."

"Usually I love to shop. I was so gung-ho about it all day."

"Until at dinner when you came to the realization of being someone's mother and accepting the job from Koenma. Both which need time to sink in," smiles Botan.

Leela nods and orders her cart to checkout. All three girls meet Shizuru and Amy again. "Oh my goodness, what did you get, Shizuru?" asks Leela looking at her friend's loaded cart. "X-Mas shopping early? Really early. I never do that until November."

"I told you she shops like that," reminds Keiko, "It's a good thing you have a counselor's salary combined with a doctor's. Principals and teachers combined don't make anywhere near what a doctor makes."

"You're house looks simple. It is a normal Japanese house."

"We keep it simple because he wants it that way, especially for the kids. If it were up to me, we'd be in a mansion."

"I'm sorry for the way I was acting, Shizuru," apologizes Leela, "I flew back to Earth with this eagerness to shop and wanting to get stuff for myself and get something for Hiro and maybe Yuki, but I get here and I…just…"

"I've been there," she laughs, "What do think I was like when I found out about Saito? The first thing I did when I found out was walk around in a daze. The hardest thing for me was to tell Kurama. I wanted to tell him but I was so nervous I couldn't speak at first. I knew what to say, but my voice refused to say any words."

"But you were pregnant," replies Leela.

"Adopting a kid can be just as hard to grasp any concepts. My neighbor's first kid was adopted. She said it took her awhile to get used to being a mom. She said telling her parents was hard for her. Once she told them however, her mother was so delighted about being a grandma."

"Yeah, I know my parents will be delighted. I only wish his mother could see Hiro. It's a real shame she's gone. I would like to meet her."

"You can see her, Leela," sighs Botan, "She's in Spirit World right now. Her place is covered in ice and snow."

Leela walks back out of the store with her purchases. She holds the bear she bought, looking at herself in the mirror on its belly. She holds the bear to her chest, sauntering towards her hover-car. Tears start to well in her eye and flow towards her chin. "I can't do this. What was I thinking?" She places the bear back in her bag and folds her arms and leans against the driver's side hatch.

Botan runs out to her and hugs her. "I can't be somebody's mother. I don't know if I ready for such a burden. I've only been going steady with Hiei for two months and already I've got this huge responsibility placed on my shoulders. I don't want to disappoint him, but it's such a huge commitment to raise a child. I'm just not…" Leela sobs as hard as she can.

Keiko walks over to her. "Leela, it's okay. I know it's not easy. This is something big to think through. You need time to sort it out."

"I don't know the first thing about raising kids. Does Hiei expect me to be this perfect parent? I don't want to turn him or Hiro down. I don't know what to do."

"Nobody's asking you to be perfect. I'm not," assures Keiko, "I've made mistakes in parenting. When I had Megumi, I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was just like you, thinking I was no good."

"But you had nine months and you were married to him."

"Leela, you don't have to say you're a parent right now," explains Shizuru, "I think what Hiei was trying to prepare you for the day when Hiro will call you mom. You can tell him you just want to take care of Hiro but you aren't comfortable with being his parent. You can't be that anyways, legally. You have to married first. That's one of Japan's laws. But I think he was telling you to be prepared to accept the role when the time comes."

"You can just tell your mom you're only taking care of Hiro. Right now his mom is still Mukuro," replies Keiko.

"Should I go get him or wait until later?"

"Up to you. Perhaps now you need to focus on getting the facts on Ryuku. Isn't that what you came here for? You want to see Ryuku before you fight him. Your other objective was to train as hard as you can for the next two weeks, so you can be prepared to fight him for real back at home. We can return here after this case is done. Maybe by that time, you'll be more comfortable with accepting the role as Hiro's parent. Or wait out the year and then accept."

"I don't want Hiei to think I've given up on his son. I don't want to abandon Hiro, like he was abandoned. I want to be there for the both of them, but I don't know if I'm ready just yet. I've got a history of relationships ending badly. I don't want this one to be another bad one."

Botan holds her tightly as she sobs. "Leela, I know how difficult this step is. Talk to him about it tonight. Tell him you want this relationship to last, but don't want to be rushed into anything. He's trying to get over Mukuro. Maybe he thinks by having you there, it would be like having a band-aid for his broken heart. Maybe these two weeks you can just spend it with him. Like a vacation from the norm. Maybe he didn't tell Kuwabara he was leaving because he knows it wouldn't make that much of a difference. The babies are too young to know you're not there now." 

"I know Kazuma can be a world-class idiot, but what I also know is he's highly protective of Yukina and wouldn't let anything happen to those kids. I know when you all have to fight Ryuku, he's going to ask Yukina to return to the Land of Ice with the babies."

Leela nods and sighs. She stands away from the driver's side hatch and pops both doors and the trunk open. "You can put your stuff in there, Shizuru," she sighs, sniffling back tears.

"So what are you going to tell Hiei?" asks Amy.

"I'll be honest with him. I'll just tell him I want to ease up on the whole parent-thing now and concentrate more on us for the moment." Leela and her friends pile into the car and she powers up the rocket booster.

"Leela, there's an urgent message from the professor." Leela opens the center of the steering wheel and receives the e-mail.

"What's going on, Professor?"

"What, oh you're online this late?"

"You've got an urgent message for me."

"Oh I do? Oh yes, is Fry with you?"

"No, but do you want me to page his car phone?"

"How late does the fight last?" whispers Keiko.

"The Ape Fight was at 7:00 and is sometimes over in an hour. Depends on…Oh Kurama, it's you. Where are you?"

"Touring the city. The fight's over."

"Can you get Fry on three-way with the professor? Tell him it's urgent."

Almost immediately, she gets Fry on instant message. "Are you connected to Farnsworth's messenger?"

"I am," he confirms, "Go ahead, Professor."

"Okay, you need to come to Planet Express. The Mayor is about to address the city about some war about to start."

"A war? With who?" asks Leela.

"He didn't say just come here." Leela orders her car to fly to Planet Express.

"Did you get that, Fry?"

"I'm heading there now," he replies.

Both cars arrive at the same time and Leela pops open her hatches first. The entire group merges into the building and descend upon the conference room. "What's going on, Professor?"

"What are you doing here?"

"You called for us. Something about a message from the mayor," reminds Leela.

Suddenly a bulletin from the mayor appears on the huge monitor in the room. "This is an emergency," he announces, "I've received an e-mail from the Space Pigs just a short time ago."

A large brown boar wearing a red cape around his neck quickly interrupts the bulletin. "Greetings New New Yorkians," he snorts, "I'm Emperor Porso of the Space Pig Planet. In less than twenty-four hours, my army of ravenous pigs will concur this filthy human city and make it our own. They will devour each of you humans until there's none left."

'Don't you rope me in with humans, stupid pig!' thinks Hiei.

'Play it cool. He doesn't know you're a demon,' reminds Leela.

"Better enjoy the time you got left, because you'll be all gone by this time tomorrow," Porso warns, signing off.

"I'm too old to be eaten," panics the professor.

"Fellas," Leela smiles, "what a lucky thing we've got going tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" whines Fry, "How do you call it lucky when we're going to die?"

"You've fought them before. What are they like?" asks Kurama.

"They're fast and tenacious. They're tough to kill normally, about like a lower-B or C-class demon. And they've got thousands of fighters."

"I thought you killed them off," says Yusuke.

"Not all were killed off, most were just chased off. We threatened them with Big Bad Wolf missiles until they backed off and went home."

"So what's the plan? Do we hold back?"

"Are you kidding? No. These pigs won't hold back. But what they don't know is you are use to dealing with creatures like them. I say this will be ideal for training. That's why we've come here. What a nice treat we get to kill a race that wants to hunt humans."

"Hell yeah!" sparks Yusuke, "I don't have to hold back."

"Don't go destroying the city in the process," reminds Keiko.

"Count me in on the fight," volunteers Shizuru.

"We've got another ace in the hole," reminds Leela, "Mukuro is here."

"That's right. And she's as powerful as ever. Maybe even more so in that tiger body of hers," sparks Hiei, "She's able to transform into a demon."

"Wait how are you planning to fight a thousand pigs with just you six?" asks Fry.

"Fry, we fight large groups of demons on a regular basis," explains Kurama, "The level of power Leela mentioned is what comes across the Human/Demon World border everyday. They are strong opponents. Because they're pigs, it means they have intelligence. But their power is probably weak and they use numbers to make up the difference."

"So how do you fight against that many?" asks Amy.

"We'll use our powers," answers Leela, "This war tomorrow will be excellent practice for an opponent we have to face back home."

"Back home? But you live here," gripes Farnsworth.

"I live in the 21st century now. I've even got a job there."

"That's right," smiles Botan, "She's a lieutenant now."

"A lieutenant? For who? Zapp?"

"Hell no, not that oafish pig. She wouldn't…"

"Chill out, Hiei," Leela sighs, "Koenma hired me. I asked him about the job and he wants me on board. He likes how I picked up this case and I'm investigating stuff about this 500-year old dragon we have to face."

"He's also got a friend with him. An undead monk called Notaku. I know Genkai will want to fight him personally. She's knows how to deal with the undead," informs Yusuke.

"Kuwabara will most likely help her," replies Kurama, "He's also good at fighting the undead. There's also one more thing to consider. He's been sealed up with the dragon, so he most likely has absorbed some of Ryuku power."

"So fighting tomorrow will do what exactly for you?" asks Fry.

"It'll help me train my powers," answers Leela, "I need to get even stronger than I am now."

"I want to help," volunteers Botan, "I'm not a fighter, but I'll be your eyes in the sky."

"Yes but don't help any lost souls here. The Spirit World in this era might be very different. Koenma might not recognize you here. It will be 1700 years here," warns Leela.

"Yeah, besides he might have gotten better appearance than the toddler form," Yusuke smirks.

"Watch it, he might have heard you," laughs Shizuru.

"Leela, what?" asks Yusuke, watching her smirk at him.

"Nothing…just I been trying to hold back ever since we sat down."

"Yes," laughs Keiko, "You've…uh…you've got something brown in your hair," she tries to hold herself back from laughing

"I know. It's monkey shit. Those stupid gorillas were throwing shit everywhere." The whole group starts laughing at him. Yusuke tries to speak through his own laughter, "They were dressed in these stupid pink dresses and holding lollypops with one golden tiara to fight over. Both riding tricycles."

"Those two King Kongs were trying to knock each other senseless," explains Hiei, 'and one decided to fling his tricycle at the other and ended up knocking some poor fool's head onto the floor. Then the other gorilla through his tricycle and hit some poor fellow behind us."

"No you dodged out of the way and let him get hit," corrects Kurama.

"Whatever, after that, they started a shit-throwing contest. One gross ball hit Yusuke right in the forehead. Finally the refs called it a night and fought of those two gorillas with teazers."

"Maybe we out to try that for the next demon tournament," suggests Yusuke, trying to calm himself down.

"You mean take a crap in my hand and fling it at my opponent. No, I'm not doing that," smirks Hiei.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be an interesting move," laughs Kurama.

"Right, and how about at the end of the fight, the winner gets to drink his own piss," remarks Hiei.

"You guys don't have that in fights like that?" asks Fry.

"Hell no. Demons like me have dignity. I fight with speed."

"Fry, you haven't seen his speed in full," explains Leela.

"Most human eyes can't see him in full speed. But you're getting pretty fast too Leela," comments Kurama, "And your fighting ability is vastly improving. I'd very much like to square off against you."

"That would be a match to see," sparks Yusuke, excitedly.

"How about tomorrow morning before the pigs come? We can go out to Monument Park. That way I'm warmed up and ready for them, and you're still buzzed and ready to kill."

Leela stretches. "Hold on, Kurama. Do you fight hand-to-hand? I've never seen you fight like that."

"I've fought like that before, but it's not my strongest talent. I want see if you can battle an enemy if he was thrashing something at you."

"You mean like a whip or a lasso?"

"Yes and how nice that you chose to fight me in a park setting. That would provide me with enough weapons to use."

"Remember though, this is not your home," sighs Shizuru, "If you make something grow or tear off plants, return things back to normal."

"Shouldn't we be heading back to the apartments?" Yusuke asks. "Keiko looks like she's had it and I want to wash this monkey shit out of my hair."

Leela nods, "We need to reserve our strengths against the Space Pigs tomorrow."

"Could I fly back ahead of you?" asks Botan. Leela hands her the apartment key.

"Be careful you don't crash into any buildings along the way." Leela and her friends walk back out to the car.

On the way outside, Leela starts to stagger. Hiei rushes to her side. "Are you sure you're able to fly tonight?"

"Sure," she yawns, "I can just switch it to autopilot and fly it in my sleep."

"No, I'm not having you do that."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I'll drive you home," volunteers Kurama.

"But you don't know how to fly one of these, do you?"

"It doesn't look hard at all. I've watched you piloting it and I think flying a hover-car is easier than driving something with wheels."

"Don't argue with him. You're too tired to fly."

"I guess," she sighs, unlocking the hatches. "Let me e-mail you the keys."

The group piles in, with Kurama in the pilot seat. "Hey Car."

"Who are you? You're not Leela."

"Car, just do as he asks," sighs Leela.

"Can I fly you tonight? Your pilot is awfully tired and she's asked me to fly you instead."

"Can you take us back to the apartment, please?" asks Leela.

"Of course," sighs the car. The rocket booster starts and the car flies off towards the apartment.

Leela sighs wearily and rests her head in the backseat cushion. Hiei sits next to her and wraps his arm around her. "Dear, is it all right with you if I just take care of your son without the name to go with it? I don't want to rush into anything quite yet. Right now it feels so weird to be called mom."

"You can hold off if you want."

"It's just I want more time to build what we have and make it stronger. I've only known you for the past two months. I know you're still trying to get over Mukuro's death, and I don't want to see you hurt. If we rush it might end up ruining our relationship and I have a history of bad break-ups. I want this one to last a really long time."

"Sure, I didn't mean to pressure you. You're the only woman, besides Mukuro, I've had strong feelings for and I want this to last even longer than that."

"I didn't know if I said I want to hold off for awhile and slow things down, that you'd think it means I want to leave you. I want to make this work."

"I understand. And I like girls who are honest about how they feel. I've never told anybody this, but there was another woman in my past whom I thought I was attracted to. She was a princess in the Edo period and she said she was in love with me. But she was just after me for sex, nothing else. She used me to get back at some guy of hers she was bestowed to. It wasn't that he was an awful man, but she was a princess with a controlling, self-centered personality. Because she was a princess, she was allowed to lie and get away with it."

"I see. I'm sorry that happened to you. I don't make it a habit to lie. I maybe impulsive, and agree to what you want, I don't lie. I just don't want to upset you or have you lose faith in me."

The car arrives at its destination and the both hatches open. Leela crawls out and tries to walk to the elevator. "Hold on, you're way too tired to walk."

"But I've tired before and made it into my apartment."

"The way you look now, you're going to crash in the elevator car." Hiei picks her up in his arms and leaps up to the window ledge on her floor. He finds the window open and makes his way inside. He slides her door open and carries her all the way into the bedroom.

"What a day we've had," yawns Botan, walking into the bedroom, "I've never been this exhausted. I just don't know you…Leela…hey…"

"While I was carrying her up here, she must have fallen asleep," he whispers. "I suspect she's used to long days. This girl travels in space without much thought or effort. Then afterwards she has enough energy to eat out somewhere or tour the city."

"Hey Botan, how does this dress come off? You've got yours off and have a long t-shirt on."

"It slides off like a glove. You just…you're going undress her?" Botan shrieks.

"I don't think she'd be too interested in sleeping in it. Besides I think she'd be more comfortable with it off, especially with these hard jewels around her waist."

"Yes but she doesn't even have a bra on. She'll be mostly nude."

"Botan, just chill out. I know she's okay with it."

"If a guy were undress me while I was asleep, I'd be so…"

"She's not you…"

"Botan, it's okay," yawns Leela, staggering to her feet, "I don't mind him removing this dress for me."

"Sorry to wake you," apologizes Botan.

"Naw, I was getting up anyways. Nature calls." She saunters to the bathroom and presses the button. The door slides shut behind her.

"For her to allow you to do stuff like helping her undress, she must either have enough faith in you to not try something. I wish I were that confident. You must really have something going."

"She means everything to me. I really want to make this work. I know she said she's trying to protect me from heartache, but I think she'd hurt even worse if this fails. No telling how many fellows she's broken up with. I sure don't want her string of misfortunes to continue. I don't want to make any tragic mistakes with her. I tell by the tone of her dreams she wants something real. You should have seen the dream she had at the hotel. It was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. What was really touching was she made it for me. Right now, she telling me she wants to create another one for me."

Leela returns from the bathroom with her dress draped over her arm and dressed in a pink nighty. "It's free, darling. There are no pit-stops in these dreams, so if you gotta pee, do it now." Hiei nods and walks in after her.

"Can I sit with you until he returns?" asks Botan.

"I've got a few minutes to spare. What's up? You worried about the invasion tomorrow."

"I'm just interested in how you think your relationship is going."

Leela smiles sleepily, "I wish I had met him a long time ago. Hiei is a really great guy."

"You wouldn't have liked him a long time ago. He was nobody's friend fourteen years ago. He was out for himself. He and Yusuke were enemies at first. He was the leader of a trio of demons…"

"I know all about that. If I were in his position back then, I would have done the exact same thing. I believe his real reason for doing that was his need to belong to something. He was lonely and needed an outlet. I get the feeling that was his reasoning for accompanying you all to that great martial arts fight was to prove to himself he existed at all. I understand where he comes from, because that was my life growing up. Mukuro dying on him was like her saying she was giving up. That was her way of walking away from him. I don't want that to happen again."

"Leela, she died because she was tired of her body and her troubled past. She gave him Hiro as a remembrance of her."

"Botan, that's a croc and you know it. I was told it was fate that bought me to Hiei when he needed someone. But a couple days before she dies? That's a little too convenient. I didn't even know I was going to do that. I took Fry's car out for a test flight, but the flux-capacitor activated itself and I was thrusted back in time. Then Hiei looked like an alien I knew."

"She was killed by…"

"She wanted that. If she was so damn sick of her body, why didn't she live and opt for reconstructive surgery? She had a lot of money and your era has that kind of technology."

Leela deeply sighs, listening to the soft hum of her shower. "Hiei told me a story about this girl he knew back in the Edo period. It was about this selfish princess that used him and lied to him. He says he doesn't like girls who lie. But then why did he put so much trust in Mukuro when she lied too? Wasn't she supposed to remain by his side forever? Then after ten years she uses death as a means to escape, hurting him in the process. I don't know why you put so much value in this woman anyways. Especially when she abandoned him."

Hiei walks out with wet hair and a towel around his waist. "I hope you don't mind I showered in there. I wanted to get the stink from that monkey battle off of me."

"Sure, you're free to do that. This is your place too, while you're in this era. I can dry your hair and comb it for you, if you want. I love playing with it anyways."

Botan starts to speak, but shakes her head and walk to the sofa-bed in the main room. Leela leans back to her end table, to retrieve a combination dryer-comb from the drawer. She commissions him to sit on the bed in front of her, with his back facing her. "Hiei, did you hear what I said out here? I'm sorry if I…"

"No need. I heard what you said. I guessed that was Mukuro's real motives. I didn't want to think that or believe it. Maybe hearing it said was what was needed. It hurts to hear it, but sometimes the truth is like that. It's ugly and grotesque, but I'd rather face that than something colored over or given a candy-coated disguise."

Leela turns the comb on and starts running the bristles through his hair. "I just want you to know, I won't do that to you. I want you to trust me. I won't leave you. I can't. I won't lie to you."

"You've got a good heart, Leela, a human one. You don't expect anything from me. I can just be myself. Deep down, I want someone…no I've got someone who's willing to share their dreams with me. You don't lie."

"I did though, back at the restaurant and in the Toys Department at Macy's. I lied when I said I was Hiro's mother. I wouldn't blame you if you distrusted me for that." Leela shuts the comb off and starts crying.

He turns to see her in tears. "I've hurt you too," she sobs, hanging her head in shame, "I promised I wouldn't lie to you but I did. I love you but if there's no faith in this relationship then what's the point? I'll end up being forced to run away and hurt you. I just don't want to do that; you've been through too much pain." The tears stream from her eye and drip onto the sheets of the bed.

"Leela, you didn't lie, or at least not on purpose at the restaurant. You were backed into a corner and needed to escape. That was my fault. I knew you were brand new at taking care of Hiro, and you don't want to be his mother right away. I was just preparing you when that time comes. Maybe I'm putting too much expectation on you, like I'm trying to paint you as some sort of goddess or angel. But you're neither, just human. Unlike demons, humans are prone to mistakes and doubts. I know you're trying to be open, but sometimes when you're cornered or don't want to hurt someone's feelings with the truth, then you panic. You don't have to be perfect, I'm not expecting that from you." He embraces her tightly; hold her head against his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry I lied. I just didn't want to hurt you. I want Hiro to have a mom he can depend on. I wanted you to be with a woman you can trust. But I let you both down. I'm not worthy of your trust or love." She sobs as hard as she can, letting her tears pour down the from the top of his bare shoulder all the way down his naked back, into the towel.

"It's okay, shh. I know you're trying to protect me from being hurt, and I know how hard it is sometimes to keep it straight with someone you love. Most importantly though, you're being honest with yourself. This is all the more reason why I trust you." He pulls away from her and looks her in the eye. Hiei holds her hand and strokes her knuckles with his thumb, "I love you, Leela. You're a selfless woman and you're just looking out. This is what I love about you. You're the first human that ever loved me, and the first woman that loves me truly, without strings attached." He holds up her hand and kisses her fist.

Leela starts to smile, "Babe, do you have anything under that towel or is it just all you?"

"Why, what's the matter?"

"Not that it matters your towel is coming loose," she shrugs, "I want sleep tonight, not have you inside me."

"Oh, but I can cover up, in these sheets. Besides you went to bed naked at the hotel."

"That's fine with me, but what if Botan should see you. There's boxer shorts in the bottom drawer of that dresser."

"Why have you got men's stuff, Leela?" He asks walking over to the dresser.

"Because sometimes Fry and Bender will have a falling out, and Fry will need a place to crash. One time Bender brought a fembots for robo-sex and they kept waking up Fry."

"How does that work? Robot sex. I've seen Bender and he's got…"

"Robot men keep their antennas on top of their head."

"So it's out for the world to see. What modesty." He searches the drawer. He pulls out a red pair of shorts. "This isn't my color. And they look more like swim trunks."

"Just hurry up and wear them. I'm getting cold over here." She slides under the covers.

He walks over to the bed and slides his body next to hers. "Were you that lonely for me?"

She drapes her arm across his chest. "You see it gets cold up in this apartment, even in the summer, and your body is so warm and cozy, it makes me just drift…off…" Slowly she falls asleep. He follows her close behind.


	30. Chapter 30

Almost immediately, Leela finds herself inside a strange house. She glances at the walls covered in vines with thick green foliage covering each vine. The room is empty, with the exception of two upholstered chairs facing each other and a coffee table between the chairs. A honey-colored oak is made as the structure for each chair as is the table from the same wood. The upholstery is silk and has a rose pattern splayed throughout the fabric. "Hiei are you seeing…this," she finds herself alone.

"He's here but he's not," calls out a light masculine voice.

"What do you mean he is here but isn't? Where am I and who are you?" she shouts, searching all around the room for the source of the voice.

"You're in a dream that I created. Please have a seat in one of these chairs."

"What do you want from me?"

"It's not I who wanted something from you. I want nothing from you. This is something you wanted from me."

"I wanted something? Is this some sort of game or puzzle?"

"Some sort, but if I tell you the true purpose, it would give me away. Please have a seat." Leela sits in the first chair she comes to.

Leela sighs, "But that's just it, this room gave you away. The very last thing I wanted tonight was a challenge…no a fight. This is a fight, isn't it?"

"A fight? How do you know that it is?"

"Because I know of one man who's fight would start like this. He challenged me to a fight in the morning, but he didn't say which part of morning, because morning starts at the stroke of midnight. You're trying to confuse me, and it almost worked. But I saw through you're trick. You must be Kurama."

Suddenly, a flash of light streaks across the room and lands in a chair facing her. Immediately the face and body of Kurama appears in front of her, dressed in a black suit and green tie. "You've won the first battle, Leela. I want to test how smart you are in this fight."

"So this is a battle of wits. My guess is Hiei is the prize at the end of the fight."

"Correct. He's just not cut out for this fight. Shall we continue?"

Suddenly a deck of cards appears in front of them on the table. Leela looks at the cards, and then her eye becomes widened. "Those are the same deck of cards from Brain Freeze. You're planning to fight me with those?"

"They are. While you were busy navigating through that meteor shower, I read over each card. At the start of the game though, you cautioned against something. What was it?"

"The Level 50 cards. I said nobody gets them. But one person had to know the answers. The creator of the game. He was the genius who came up with the game."

"If he got them, then the answers are not impossible to figure out." He picks up a card and reads it. "Are you ready for your first question?"

"Hold on. Why is it that you drew first? Are you to assume that you can outwit me by going first? I will not concede in this battle. You will lose the fight."

"How can you be certain I would lose? I haven't lost a battle like this yet."

"That's not true. Nobody wins in the first time they play these games. You have experience in mind games, I'll give you that, but somebody had to teach you how to play. Besides nobody's infallible."

"You are correct in saying I have lost before. My mother taught me this game, back in young kit days, over 1000 years ago. She won the first few games." "By the way that was the second fight you beat me at. You are a worth opponent. I have to ask, Leela, when you agreed to this fight, did you assume weapons would be involved?"

"Weapons are involved. You're wielding it against me now."

"But as you can see, I'm not holding a weapon."

"It wouldn't be in your hand. It's a weapon that if it were removed, you would die instantly. It's inside your head; it's you're brain."

"Correct, and you are wielding it against me too. We can ask each other these questions all night, there's nothing in this realm to stop us. I've stopped everything that would interfere."

"No," she replies, "there is one thing you can't control, and would be a devastating effect if you could. That of course is time. Time is a regulation controlled by the Earth's rotation around the sun and on its own axis. The momentum of the Earth is spinning every nanosecond, on a constant basis, like a never-ending centrifuge. If you were to stop the spin of the Earth, the law of motion would still be in affect and everything will fly off, even structures secured to the ground. It would most likely wipe out every creature on this planet. Then once the planet has stopped, it would lose the atmosphere and become like the moon."

"You want to know something, Leela. You're one of a few people who can get these challenges I'm giving to you."

"It takes smarts and skills, but one flaw I see in your game is you assume too much. Since I told you Level 50 was too hard, you'd think I've never won at that level before. You chose the highest level to defeat me. What I didn't tell you was I've not only played that level, but I've won almost every game at that level."

"That's great. I haven't had a challenge like this in a long time."

"By the way, Kurama, I believe you are done with that card."

"But I just pick this card up. It's a random card. I haven't asked any questions yet."

"I know but don't the questions on the card look the same as what you've been asking me. Before you started this game, you had the first card already picked out. I've got a question for you. How did I know you were done with that card?"

"Have you somehow memorized the cards?"

"No, have you forgotten what I was given in Spirit World upon my first visit? It's how Hiei and I communicate to each other now. It's also how you're talking to me in my dream."

"You've got clairvoyance, the ability to read minds. So even in a dream, you can do that." "Do you want to draw a card, Leela?"

Leela draws one and reads it, "See a bridge across a ravine. Three visitors are to accompany you, but only one at a time may cross the bridge with you. The names of the visitors are Canus, Pullus, and Granum. If you leave Canus alone with Pullus, he will kill Pullus. If you leave Pullus with Granum, he will kill Granum. How do you bring all three visitors safely across at one time."

"I like this riddle. These visitors one would assume are men at first. However the names are Latin. Canus is a dog, Pullus a chicken, and Granum is grain. First take Pullus across the bridge, leaving Canus with Granum. Then take Granum across and cross back with Pullus. Then take Canus with you across the bridge. Finally walk back across for Pullus and take him across."

"Good, that was too easy."

"Let me ask why you gave me a simple question?" replies Kurama. 

"Because that was not a Level-50 card. It was a Level-20 question. You thought that just because this pile is full of Level-50 cards, that's all there is. But sometimes Brain Freeze sneaks cards in from other levels to make you overconfident and think you can win after all. Here's my question, why are you stalling for time like this? You've put me in this dream, just to play Brain Freeze? Are you trying to keep something from me? I highly doubt your battle has anything to do with the cards. They are a distraction from your real objective."

"You're very observant, Leela. But what do you suspect my real objective?"

"That's easy, to keep me away from Hiei all night. You said we could play this game as long as we want, but it won't last forever. In fact, the night will be ending soon."

"How can you tell in this room? It's sealed and there are no windows."

"Is this really a room at all? My guess is this is nothing but vines that you've made to look like there are solid walls behind them. What I noticed at first was the leaves are green, meaning natural light comes into the room during the day. If this were truly sealed room with no windows, it would be the same as putting a plant in a closet. It wouldn't take long for the leaves to wither and die. Then the vines would die as well. Without the sun's rays providing energy to the plants, then photosynthesis wouldn't occur. Then after awhile we'd be affected as well. I highly doubt you'd play in a room where you could suffocate and die."

"I can assure you, there are no windows or doors in here."

"Wrong, there are. There are windows. How else would one enter a room or leave? I believe it was Shakespeare who said your eyes are windows into your soul. Since we're in this dream, it means our eyes are closed in sleep. However the soul of a person never sleeps, not even after the body dies. When I asked you where my boyfriend was, you said he was both here but not here. He's not here in this dream, but I can still sense his presence. It's because Hiei is sleeping next to me." She opens her eye slowly to check. She sees him still asleep beside her. She closes her eye again and reenters the room. "He's still here. And he is in this room. I feel the presence. Top right corner of the room, you have him camouflaged." She stands up from the chair and starts walking to the corner when the room transforms into an old Roman museum with ten statues of David in the middle of the room.

Leela walks across a granite floor surrounded in a thick white fog. She sees her reflection in one of the pedestals, under David's feet, and sees a white toga wrapping around her body. She sees Kurama walk towards her, this time transformed into his silver fox form. "I take it this is more to the fight."

"It is more. This is a test to find which statue is really your lover. Nine statues contain venomous snakes, but only one has Hiei inside. I want you to find which one it is. You can walk by each statue, touch the statues, or do whatever, just don't break them just yet. I'm going to wake up for a few. It's almost dawn out and my body's calling me." Quickly, he disappears.

'This is a dream so,' she leaps into air and flies over the heads of the statues. She notices the statues lined five to a row and two to a column. Suddenly she feels warmth coming from one of the statues. She touches the head of the second statue in the back row to the left, and feels warmth rising from it. Quickly, Leela returns to the ground and waits for Kurama's return.

"Aw, that feels better," he chimes, walking back into the room, "This was turning into such a dream that it was hard to wake up from. But if I had stayed asleep, I would have wet the bed and never hear the end of it from Shizuru."

Leela laughs at him, "Why has that happened before?"

"One time, yes. I was in the middle of one fantastic dream that I was at this dinner party, and then I thought our cat had jumped up and spilled lukewarm coffee on my lap." He shakes his head and sighs. "So have you figured out which statue has your man inside?"

"Yes, this was an easy test. The second one on the left in the back." She flies up and draws out her lance. She quickly slices through the chosen statue and zips underneath to catch his body in her arms. "This was the only one giving off heat. He's a warm-blooded mammal like us. Snakes don't generate heat on they're own. They're cold-blooded reptiles and require the heat of the sun to keep warm." She slices open another statue with her lance and backs away, watching the head of a cobra emerge. She watches it slither its way out, flicking its tongue out at her.

"So do you wish to continue this battle?" asks Kurama.

"Yes but I want to kick it up several notches. Fight me for real at the park. Now I've got to wake up because I'm hungry and now I gotta go." She wakes up and looks at her wristband, reading 6:15. She stands up walks to the bathroom door. Leela knocks first then presses the button. "Good morning, robots," she yawns, watching her bathroom adjust itself and shut the door behind her. "Thank you, for cleaning up the floor for me, clothes hamper."

"No problem. I see you've got a guy with you this time and another girl in the apartment, too."

Leela sighs and sits over the toilet bowl. "Can you handle it? These are friends of mine and they're going stay here for the next couple of weeks. I'll give you a bottle of wine if you're good to them," she promises while she pees.

"Wine?" asks the toilet, "Wow. You never do that. Usually it's beer. I will serve you, Leela."

"You do that anyways."

"So who is this guy with you?" the toilet asks, flushing himself, "I know it's not Fry because this guy's aim is better, despite his short stature."

"He's my boyfriend," she sighs, "This one is a keeper too."

"For real?" asks the hamper, "That's so good, Leela. I've been trying to get Mr. Piss Bucket to go out with me, but he'd rather sit there and collect piss and feces all day."

"That's what I do, you stupid fembot! That's what I'm programmed to do. Just like it's your job to collect stinky clothes."

"How dare you call me stupid! If I'm stupid, then why are you collecting human waste all day."

"You just collect clothes. Hey at least I was there for Leela while she had that case of food poisoning back in January."

"Hey I helped out too. I held her hair back for her."

"I owed you both for that," smiles Leela, standing up, "That guy you like wants in now."

"Aren't you going to shower, today?" asks the shower.

"Tonight, please. If you could make it a Jacuzzi so I can share it with him."

"Ooh, I like it hot and steamy. Do you want it with or without the bubble bath soap?"

"With. But tonight, not now." Leela opens the door. "Sorry to…" Hiei zips in fast.

"Who were you talking to?" asks Botan.

"Just the bathroom robots. The reality to this bathroom is they adjust themselves. Was he waiting long out here?"

"Not really. I think that argument woke him, it certainly woke me."

"That was the hamper and the toilet. They're always fighting. Sometimes the hamper loses interest and wants to hook up with Hector. But his memory is so poor, he'd probably forget to take her out."

"What do you mean you want to quit? Don't you dare, you hamper-hussy!"

"Why don't you come here and say that?" yells the hamper.

"I will, as soon as he's done."

Leela rolls her eye and knocks on the door, "Will you two knock it off? You've got one customer in there and another out here."

Hiei emerges from the bathroom shaking his head. "What is wrong with that toilet of yours? I'm trying to take a piss, telling the toilet to hold still. I can't believe I have to tell that to a commode. But then it starts shit with the clothes hamper."

"He's a robot and he and the hamper get into fights like that."

"I'll just be grateful when we get back to the 21st century where appliances and bathroom fixtures don't talk. Does Shizuru have to come in here and work her counseling magic on bathroom robots?"

"No but I'll see about giving them an upgrade."

Leela walks to her dresser and opens the top drawer. "In case you're wondering, your clothes are in the hamper. Later on, she'll take the dirty clothes downstairs to the laundry room and get them washed."

"What do I do then? I don't have other clothes here."

"That's why…aha…you'll get this can of black liquid fabric." She holds up a spray can. "Catch," she says, tossing him the can. "It's the same concept that went into your beach shorts."

"Can I make underwear too?"

"Sure, I'll even turn away and give you privacy." Leela ruffles through her closet, trying to keep her eye from watching. 'It's not like I haven't seen him naked before, but what if…no. I promised I wouldn't look. Still he's got the cutest thing…no I shouldn't be thinking this. He's able to read thoughts just as clear as I can.'

'Leela, chill out. It's okay. We're even now. You like seeing me naked, and I like seeing you naked.'

'I'm sorry. I just can't help myself. And it's not as though I haven't one before. My goodness, why am I acting like a high-schooler about looking at a guy's ding dong?'

'Is it perhaps Botan is staying here and you know she's more sensitive to nudity?'

'Are you decent now?'

'I've got pants on now, if that's what you mean?'

Leela retrieves a black pair of pants and a cyan tank top. She slinks over to the bed and slips her nighty off, showing off her body to him. "May I have the can, please?"

"Do you know where it's been?"

"Yes, that's why I want it." Leela takes the can and sprays out a pair of black panties onto her underside. Immediately afterwards, she shakes the can and sprays out the cups of her bra, one on each boob. Then she takes the can and sprays a band around her back.

"And I think I'll create a zipper in front this time. So if you get lonely today, I can expose my chest to you." She turns the nozzle of the can and sprays out nearly invisible straps around each shoulder.

"What if I'm lonely now? I'm lonely right now," he begs. Leela smiles and unzips the bra, letting her breasts roll out.

"Could you do that later?" asks Botan, standing outside the bathroom door.

"But he asked me too. Well we can play later. I've asked the shower to set herself on bubble-bath Jacuzzi mode for tonight. You can bathe with me, darling."

"I'm so there," replies Hiei in a seductive voice.

"While you're doing that, I'll fly through the city. I might even ask Fry if he wants a ride."

Leela hears Hiei's stomach quaking. "I guess you want breakfast. You're in luck. There's a little taste of home just a couple blocks from here."

"Whose home?" asks Botan.

Leela smiles at her. "Yours, what did you think I was referring to? It's a rice and dumpling shop. It's nowhere near as expensive as El Zar's and they serve authentic Japanese cooking."

"Count me in, as long as there's green tea involved."

"I know it doesn't affect you, except it makes you energized."

"Yes, and I've noticed there are plenty of covered areas and trees for Kurama to use."

"Speaking of which, I wonder if…" Just then Leela hears a knock on the door. "Come in." Leela quickly rolls her top down and slips on her pants. "Hey Shizuru, glad you're up."

"Yeah, I was about to come down here earlier because I heard yelling, but I knew that was your business."

Leela rolls her eye and sighs heavily. "I'm sorry you heard that."

"Were you and Hiei fighting?" asks Shizuru.

"No, that was my bathroom robots. The toilet and the clothes hamper argue all the time. Sometimes their voices carry and the arguments can be brutal to listen to."

"Your toilet talks?"

"They all do. These are robots you're peeing into. Toilets link themselves to the sewers and usually don't have attitudes, as long as you feed it beer. There are cases of beer in the medicine cabinet in your bathroom. It's for the robots in there."

"That stupid toilet was getting so riled, he wouldn't hold still for me," gripes Hiei, "He was more interested in arguing with his girlfriend, the hamper, than keeping still long enough for me to finish. He sounds like a controlling S.O.B. boyfriend."

"I deal with that a lot. Welcome to my world," sighs Shizuru, "Last month I had an abusive husband in my office. I had to see them separately, because she was scared of him. She had all these cuts and bruises because he would beat her. One day I received a phone call saying she was in the hospital, after he tried to kill her with a pull cord. She almost died because of him. I told her enough was enough. Now she's staying at one of my friends' houses, who just so happens to be a cop."

"Lucky break for her," says Leela.

"Well, Officer Rob Senoia is a friend of mine from college. He's very sweet and highly protective. He's married and has identical-twin girls about Sakura's age. I know Kurama knows Kita Senoia because he delivered the twins for her."

"What about the bastard that client of yours is married to?"

"Rob says the guy's facing arrest soon. I'll bet right now, he's sitting in jail. Which means they've got a trial coming up and I'll be called to testify for Mimi's defense. That'll be sometime in September. Poor girl. She's got a kid on the way too."

"How far along? Will she have to raise the kid alone?"

"Five months. She has a sister she can stay with. But Yui lives in Vancouver, Canada, and Mimi can't leave the country just yet."

"Are you about ready to go?" hollers Kurama, sticking his head in the door, "Yusuke and Keiko are already downstairs."

"Yeah let's go. Breakfast is not far from here."

"Are we taking the car then?" asks Kurama.

"Did you somehow stick cotton in your ears after that dream last night? The breakfast shop is only a couple blocks from here. We can walk." Leela slips the apartment key in her pocket and zips up the pocket. She checks her other pocket and finds her money and debit card.

"So where are we headed?" asks Kurama.

"Oh it's a restaurant called Little Tokyo. I've been reading about it in the paper on my wrist thing. They just opened it in February and I've been eating there. The prices are dirt cheap, but the food is awesome. The only thing not authentic is the money is American dollars."

"How cheap are we talking?" asks Shizuru.

"About the price of a Big Mac Meal without the added calories and overabundance of fat. But you do get way more food."

"Eww, yeah that meat is bad," gripes Kurama, "It doesn't take long to go through the body. I was in a hurry for work one day and ordered a cheeseburger and fries. By the time I made it to the hospital, I ran as fast as I could to the restroom, and fired it out."

"That's why I'm not taking you there," laughs Leela.

In the garage, the group meets with Yusuke and Keiko. "Leela, who was yelling really loud?"

"My toilet and clothes hamper were arguing, and the toilet gets really mad and lets the whole complex know he's upset. Do you still want an automatic toilet? They are robots and yours has a temper as well."

"I was wondering who was talking to me. I kept hearing this voice while I was taking a shit. It was very strange. This guy's voice kept saying 'Hell yeah, gorgeous. Give me all the shit from that ass of yours.'"

"Yeah well here's the thing," Leela stutters nervously, "You've got a gay robot you were sitting on. Gay and horny."

"Yeah, that makes me feel better," replies Yusuke, sarcastically.

"No wonder I heard a voice say, 'Hey chumpette, take your piss somewhere else,'" sighs Keiko, "So our toilet is gay, horny, and rude."

"I've got a good mind to get them upgraded. I'll do that now," Leela pages Hector.

"Good morning, Leela. What can I do for you?"

"Could you call the robot plumbers today and have them upgrade the toilets in apartments 1-I and 2-I?"

"With or without temper change?" asks Hector.

"With temper change."

"Okay, I'll call them now." Leela hears the phone ring in Hector's office. "Hey Leo and Charlie…" Leela disconnected her transmission.

"By the end of the day, our toilets with have sunnier attitudes," promises Leela.

"I'll be happy when we get home to bathroom plumping that has no attitude," sighs Keiko.

"Yeah the last thing I want in the morning is a crapper that back talks," snips Hiei.

"Leela, you must have a patience of a saint to live with robots that act like this," remarks Kurama.

"When you've grown up in this city and lived in this era for most of your life, you get used to it."

"So where are we heading to?" asks Yusuke. Suddenly he turns a corner on the sidewalk and sees a building in the shape of a Buddhist temple.

"That's Little Tokyo," Leela points out, "I thought a little taste of home would do today."

"Wow, what a beautiful temple. Those golden lions look very beautiful," comments Kurama, "Do I need to take my shoes off?"

"It's a restaurant, dear," reminds Shizuru, "Those statues are fake and the kanji is unreadable." The group climbs the temple's stairs and enters the restaurant.

"Yeah but the food is awesome," replies Leela. She spots a waitress and bows to her.

"Ohayo, how many you have?" asks the waitress, bowing to her.

"Nana," replies Leela.

Kurama starts taking his shoes off. "Oh sir, that's not required. This is just a restaurant."

"It's such a pretty temple, and the floor here looks like soft Japanese pine. I didn't want it scuffed with my shoes."

"This floor has unscuffable latex. I like your respect for temples. You've been to Japan before?"

"I lived there all my life."

"You're characters are written poorly and hard to read," comments Shizuru.

"That was the architect's design. He did a great job designing this place but his writing is so bad. But he figured since Japanese is a dead language, nobody would care."

"I'll take my shoes off anyways. Restaurant or not, this is still a house of worship. Especially with the statue of Buddha in the middle of the room," Kurama replies.

"Sir, you don't need to do that. Please don't."

"Alice, would you stop arguing with the gentleman?" replies a black-haired man, "Obviously he worships and respects Buddha. You may do as you wish, sir. It seems you really are from Japan and know about how to enter great temples. Take them off if you like but keep them with you because there are shoe-stealing robots in the area."

Leela takes off her boots and bows to the man. "My friends here are all from Japan."

"Nice to see you," the man greets with a bow, "I'm the manager and a monk here. My name is Monk Minoko. I'm honored to have you from my native country. You are correct in saying this is a temple. I have worship services here every morning at 6:00 and breakfast at 7:00. If you wish to join me at worship time, feel free."

"Thank you, master," replies Kurama bowing to the monk.

"We've got two weeks here," shrugs Yusuke, "I didn't think Leela's era still had a temple like this. I'll come back tomorrow morning. I do that at home, everyday before school, I worship at Grandma's temple."

The monk leads the group through the restaurant, through an aisle with raised booths. "Since you're Japanese, I know you're used to sitting on the floor."

"I do that every morning," replies Hiei.

"To start off, what would you like to drink?"

"Green tea, if you have it," requests Hiei.

"All around…except for…" Leela stalls.

"Sir do you have a restroom nearby?" asks Kurama.

"Yes, the restrooms are behind Buddha on his left."

"Then I'll drink green tea as well. I drink it every morning before work, and then it cleans me out for the rest of the day."

"You're just like my son. He drinks it before school, and goes immediately to the boys' room before class starts. Then he says afterwards he doesn't have to go the rest of the day."

Another waitress brings out trays of dumplings. "This will start you off. Then what would you like?"

"We'll make this easy on you," smiles Leela, "Breakfast sampler all around."

"What's that?" asks Botan

"It's a bowl of rice, omelet, spicy pork strips, pickled radishes, and a cherry tomato," answers Leela.

"Really?" chimes Kurama, "That's what I eat for breakfast all the time."

"Me too, but some days I just don't have the time to fix that," sighs Keiko.

"I wish we'd come here instead, Leela," replies Hiei, "First time we were in this century."

"You'd eat this every day? You don't have that kind of food in your refrigerator. You have eggs but no rice or pork," sighs Leela, "I'd make it for you before going to Genkai's, if you'd stock your cabinets with this."

"The supermarket is in the human world."

"Mukuro City has a supermarket too. It's always stocked with human world food. When we get back, we're going shopping, mister."

"Ooh, Hiei, she told you," snickers Kurama.

"Yeah and I was here to witness it," laughs Yusuke, "Take him down a peg, girl."

"Shut up," Hiei sighs, "These dumplings are good. I could eat them all day."

"You fill up on sweets? Really?" laughs Yusuke.

"Don't talk," sighs Keiko, "You do that too. I know you can't pass up a chance to visit that teahouse near the school. The owner even knows you by name and how many dumplings you order."

"He must have known me from when we were punk kids back in school."

"Nice try, we all know you weren't as popular as you want to believe."

One waitress brings out seven bowls of rice and places one in front of each customer. She is followed by one waitresses carrying out four boxes, and another carrying three, with the samplers in each box. The two with the boxes distribute them out to each customer.

"That didn't take long," shrieks Botan in surprise.

"Not when you have robots programmed to make the food," replies one of the waitresses, "Enjoy your breakfast," all three women reply with a bow. Leela and her friends return their thanks with a bow.

"So, tell me, Kurama, what was with the monkey suit in the dream?" asks Leela.

"Ask Shizuru, she bought it. She asked me to wear it in the first part."

"Where did you come up with the Roman theme with the statues?"

"Saito had that theme at school. The last day of his school had a play about Julius Caesar."

"They're teaching that to kindergarteners?"

"No the junior high put the play on. He was just in the audience with me."

"I liked the Statues of David. What was that for though?"

"I told you could touch them and you…"

"I flew up and touched the top of their heads. But most women wouldn't do that first thing. I almost did when you disappeared to do your thing."

"You too?" asks Shizuru, "I had that dream where he left me alone with the statue of David, only I didn't hesitate. I flew right up and grabbed his penis. Hey it was a dream and nobody was there to watch me do it."

"Yeah then I came back in and you had that embarrassed look on your face like you had just done something wrong. It's that same look Saito gets when I catch his hand in the cookie jar."

"Maybe next time I'll do that," giggles Leela, "You give me that same dream, Kurama, with just one statue of David and I will not only grab his penis, I'll rub around on it until it breaks off."

"You could do that to mine," suggests Hiei.

"Yeah, if you had anything for me to grab."

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," laughs Yusuke.

"As long as I don't have to watch you do that, Leela," laughs Botan with a grimace on her face.

"You've never done that in your whole life? Never touched a guy's favorite place?" asks Shizuru, "Not even to the great Koenma, whom you've slept with before."

"That was causal sex," she blushes, swirling her pork strip around with her chopsticks, "It's just…uh…causal, nothing more," she stutters, dropping her meat repeatedly.

"Admit it, girlfriend," Leela laughs, "You've touched him there and enjoyed yourself while your hand was on it. He didn't object because he was on cloud nine."

"Okay, you caught me. And yes I enjoyed it. How did you know he liked it?"

"Botan, I'm experienced," explains Leela, "I've been with several guys, especially Fry. What really gets him in a trance is having your hand right on his thing. He'll literally melt in your hands. Koenma will forget about work and will be on vacation the rest of the day."

"Let's change the subject," suggests Keiko, "This is a public place."

"So, what time will you two fight this morning?" asks Yusuke.

"We started after midnight," explains Leela, "Kurama and I are in battle right now, in fact. I know it hasn't stopped."

"You've figured that out now?" asks Kurama.

"No, I knew from when you started. The battle is far from over, but you had time to pause and enjoy breakfast."

"Yes which was good, and the tea has worked its magic on me. Will you all excuse me?" He stands up and walks towards the center of the room, heading towards the restroom.

Leela waits awhile, then stands up and follows him close behind. She walks in to the Ladies' room and stands with back against the wall beside the stalls. 'All right, spill it.'

'I am. The tea's coming out g…'

'I don't mean that. I've been thinking about the dreams and your explanation. I know that thing about you and your son watching Julius Caesar was a lie. The last day of school for him was Thursday, and you were first at the hospital, then Tokyo Dome. After that, I drove you to Spirit World. Even if you did take Saito to a play like that, it would be way too mature for him to understand.' Leela walks into a stall and latches the door. She sits on the toilet and starts to pee.

'There's something else I've been wondering. It's about the dream, particularly the second one. You had a Roman-themed room with grotto walls and granite floors. But David isn't Roman. He's Hebrew. The story of David goes back into the biblical story between him and Goliath. The statue of David was a work of art by Michelangelo, which was sculpted between 1501 and 1504. The location of the statue is in the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy.'

'You've done your homework. You are correct in thinking about the second dream, but there's something else. What did you do in that dream?' he thinks.

'It's not what I did. The rooms were similar. There was no entryway in except for the eyes, or rather the entry was so cleverly disguised, there was no telling where it was. But in a real room, there has to be a way in or out, otherwise your basic needs would suffer. What if you were in a locked room and you were hungry or had to go to the bathroom? More importantly though, was there air in the room, or were you meant to suffocate and die? And what about your friend? I don't want Hiei to die, not like that. Trapped with no escape. In the place with the statues, you put him inside one. Why would you do that? A statue has no way for air to get in or out. I had to find him quickly because he would die if left inside the statue. Why would you risk my boyfriend's life like that?'

'It's something Notaku would do. I know this was his doing. He killed a wedding couple this way. He sealed them in a room with no escape and no air. When the woman's father found them, it was too late. The young couple died in that awful place. The walls were covered in vines like this. There was natural light to keep the plants alive, but there was no food or water. There was vomit on the floor from the couple who tried eating the vines. There were brown spots in the corners made by their own waste. When the place was found, the couple was nothing but skin and bones, meaning they starved to death.'

'Back at the hospital, I was in this dream with Hiei, where I met Ryuku and Notaku. Notaku was very scary, I must admit, but what really terrified me was at the end. Hiei fell from the sky and I tried to catch him, but he hit the ground first. I picked him up and saw large amounts of blood coming from the back of his head. I held him close to me, screaming out his name. He was dying on me. I was really afraid I lost him. I woke up and he was there.'

'So you think…hang on let me shake this…there the tea's all gone. So anyways, you think there's something to the dreams that involves your boyfriend's life being in danger?'

Leela stands up and flushes the toilet. 'There is. I picked it up with the Shakespearean theme and the statue of David. I really figured it out when you said Julius Caesar. You know he was stabbed 23 times with the second stab in his chest to be the one that killed him. Then the statue depicts King David as a young man in his 20s. He had slain Goliath for Saul and brought back his head as proof. The snakes in the other statues are significant as well. Snakes are in the bible as evil. It was a snake that persuaded Eve to eat the apple from the forbidden tree. Cobras are very lethal snakes. When one bites you, the poison can spread through your body. Without immediate treatment, you would die from the bite.' Leela opens the stall door and walks across the room to the sink. She presses the button for wash cycle on the top of the faucet. Immediately soapy water pours out of the faucet and into the sink. She runs her hands through the water, washing them.

'So what have you thought of?' Kurama asks in thought.

Leela sees Keiko and Shizuru walk in, locked in a conversation.

"Hey Leela, are you feeling all right? You've been in here quite some time."

"Sorry, I've been locked in a conversation with Kurama. These walls are too thick for audio talk, but…"

"Right, thought conversation," replies Shizuru, "Well I'm in here anyways because I figure once the battle starts with those alien pigs, there's really no good place to pee."

"Yes, and that's also why I came in here. You'd better go now."

Leela walks out of the room and meets Kurama, standing next to the huge statue. "Sorry about being cut off like that."

"No problem, I know you talk to Hiei like this. You converse in thought. That really comes in handy in tight spots."

"Can Yusuke do that? If he can, we could use that today in the war. I want to talk strategies to you all, especially if we're all on different sides of town."

"Which side will you take? As if I need to ask."

"I've got the harbor covered with the Planet Express building as the central point."

"I've got the park covered."

"That's not terribly far away, and there are plenty of trees, grass, and flowers."

"That's good, an arsenal for me to use."

"Right, just return things to normal after the war." Leela gazes up at the statue and slowly kneels in front of him. Kurama follows her and sits with his legs folded under him.

'Oh Lord Buddha, protector of all and knower of all, please watch over this grand city and her people. Please protect those of us who are fighting today against evil from harm,' prays Leela in silence.

Leela crosses her legs and meditates in front of the statue. She watches Shizuru and Keiko emerge and join in prayer on the floor.

"Hey what are you…?" asks the waitress.

"Shh, quiet," whispers the manager, "Obviously these folks need his guidance now."

"Sorry, monk," whispers Keiko, "If we're inconveniencing you and your business."

"No need," replies Minoko, "I pray to him every day."

"I'm actually a Christian," admits Leela, "But I believe the teachings of both Jesus and Buddha are very similar."

"I've had Baptist preachers say that to me," sighs the monk, "The paths of both these men flow in the same direction. They encourage you to follow them into Enlightenment or Heaven."

"I've known that," sighs Hiei walking towards the monk, "I've been praying to Buddha ever since my son was born, and when I lost the first woman in my life. Just before she died, Leela-san came to me. I know it was an accident that brought her to me."

The monk places his hands on Hiei's shoulder. "My son, that was no accident. The great Buddha knew your lady's time was up, and he sent you this girl to you to be comfort to you in your time of sorrow."

"Master, it was an accident," corrects Leela, "My ex-lover's car's flux capacitor activated on its own and sent me into the 21st century to Tokyo."

"It matters not if your car acted up or it was your intention. What happened was you did go to this young man. It was the will of Buddha that made you come and be by his side."

"I was having doubts," Hiei sighs, "I had been alone my whole life. Lonely, without anyone to love. Mukuro was the first to come into my life, but her love was filled with bitterness from her own troubled past. She didn't love me as I hoped she would. She gave me a son, but then she opted for death. I seriously thought I'd be alone again. I had thought of taking my own life, while she laid in her tower approaching death. I thought about joining her in the afterlife."

"But you waited instead and prayed for someone," guesses the monk, "And Buddha heard your prayers and sent you his daughter, Leela-san."

Leela closes her eye. "Would you have really killed yourself and left your son like that, if I show up. Hiei, you shouldn't think this way. If I didn't come and meet you, would you really have done such an act of cowardliness? That dream you made for me, you died in that and I was powerless to stop it. Are you trying to tell me that you would sacrifice yourself if not even I can catch you in time? Will you die in the battle against Ryuku?"

"That's not it, Leela…" Leela bounds to her feet and runs straight into the Ladies' room.

"May I go in there?" asks Hiei.

"I'll guard the door," promises Shizuru.

Hiei dashes in after Leela. He sees her with her back against the wall, collapsing to the floor. "Would you have really ended your life if I hadn't showed up? Would you really leave Hiro like your mother left you in death? Is your life that much not important that you'd give it up? I didn't think you were that shallow of a man to think you'd kill yourself for a woman that only half loved you."

"Leela, I'm not going to lie and say the thought never crossed my mind. I was prepared to lay my life down for hers. I would give up everything for Mukuro. At least that's what I thought while she was dying. Yukina was taking care of Hiro, and I wanted Mukuro to live. I would have given her my Life Energy too, if it meant she'd be well again."

"But don't you see? Your life is important. You've got a son that loves you, friends that care for you, and a sister who wants you in her life. You're a lucky man to have all of that. That's where your wealth is. You're not truly alone, at least not anymore."

"I realize that, but hearing it makes me feel so…I just feel lucky that you were there for me. You're my favorite girl. You're a good friend. I've been sad my whole life, but after awhile you learn to keep your emotions to yourself and not let anyone see tears on your face. Then you forget how to cry altogether. I thought that if I were to change the sadness to anger, I could disguise the pain. But then that night Mukuro died, you chased after me. Maybe if you hadn't done that, I would have made that into anger as well. You held me, as though to say it was all right. You held on to me and let me cry. For once in my life, I was allowed to share the pain in my heart with someone. Thank you, for letting me cry, for being there when I need someone."

Leela rises onto her feet and holds Hiei in her arms. She grasps the back of his head. She says nothing at first. "Hiei, you're not alone anymore. I'm with you no matter what. I'll stay with you until the end of time. I love you. Just trust me on this, and know you're important. You belong here in this world; I don't want you to die. Don't you dare think you have to kill yourself. You're my favorite guy, and are a great friend to be with. You're a beautiful human…I mean demon being…"

"It's okay if you call me human. For once in my life, I'm able to feel human and express these human emotions," he interrupts, starting to sniffle, "You really think I'm a great person?"

"You are a wonderful person and you deserve to be happy. Hiei, you are a great guy, terrific father to Hiro, great brother to Yukina, you've got wonderful friends, and you're practically brothers with Kurama. You're an awesome lover to me and best friend when I need one. That's what I see in you. And combined with great looks, you are a beautiful person." Tears trickle from his eye, upon hearing her words.

"I…uh…nobody's ever said that to me before. I…been called evil or devil but never good. I've been an outcast and shunned for my misgivings. Your the first person that's said I was…good…" He grits his teeth, trying to stifle himself from crying.

"It's okay. Let it go. Go ahead and cry; I won't stop you." He tries to speak but can barely move his lips. He simply buries his face into Leela's shoulder and tries to muffle the sound of his tears.

Leela sees Shizuru walk in the doorway. She sees two elderly women cross Shizuru's path.

"Sorry, they needed in here," she shrugs.

"That's okay." Leela catches the eyes of one woman looking at her embracing Hiei. "Sorry he's in here. I came in here upset and he wanted to comfort me, and now…"

"That's okay, young lady. I'm glad you've got a fellow willing to make sure his lady's happy. When my Leo was still alive, he did the same for me."

"What's that, Ester?" asks the other old woman, from behind one of the stalls.

"Mary, there's a young woman in here with her husband crying in her arms. She said he came in to see if she was all right."

"Aw, what a sweet fellow. Takes a real man to cry for the sake of his woman. You hardly find men now-a-days like that," Mary sighs as she starts to pee, "My Robert cried with me when my sister passed on. He still does that when I'm upset, but he's nervous about the Ladies' room."

"Leo wasn't. He didn't care if the whole restroom was filled with women, if I was upset, he'd come in to see if I was all right. He helped me when I during all my five pregnancies. He even held back my hair so I wouldn't get sick on it."

"Are you feeling…?" Leela starts to ask.

"…Feeling any better? I was about to ask you that," Hiei sniffles, trying to wipe away his tears with the side of his hand.

"Hey young lady, is your husband okay out there?" hollers Ester.

"We're not married. We're going steady though."

"That's nice. Even sweeter when he's your boyfriend. You two really must have something truly special."

She walks out of the restroom holding his hand. Leela sees the monk looking at them. He smiles at the pair. "You almost look like a newly wed couple. You aren't married though, right?"

"Not yet, we've been going steady for a couple months."

"Yes, but Buddha has told me you are destined to be married. Hold out your hands to me, young lady, I'm gifted with palm reading." Leela holds her palm out and lets the monk study her hand. He traces her palm with his fingers. "See this line in the middle here, that's your heart line. It's pretty long, meaning you've got a very long life ahead of you. It's telling me you are with the man the Great Lord Buddha has chosen for you to be with. The last one just wasn't for you. And great fortune lies ahead of you. You will marry him and bear him wonderful children."

"I did want that. To be married to you, Hiei, and to give Hiro a brother or sister to play with someday."

"And it will happen," foretells the monk, "Just be patient. Perhaps within the following year, you will be married."

"Do you have a bill for us?" asks Leela.

"I did but that gentleman with the short black hair covered it for you," the monk points out Yusuke emerging from the restroom.

"Thanks, but I was going to pay," replies Leela.

"The bill was only $28. Besides I saw you run in and saw him come in after you. I figured you were upset."

"Where are our shoes?" asks Leela.

"Botan has them and she's outside on the steps guarding them," informs Keiko.

Leela thanks her. "We'll just get out of this kind man's hair. Thank you, sir for having us here," replies Leela with a bow.

"You folks are welcomed back. You can come here tomorrow morning a 6:00 for meditation services, or feel free to stop in and pray when you feel like it or need his guidance."

"Sayonara," bows Kurama to the monk.

"Sayonara, my son. And same to all of you. I'll pray for you all today," promises Monk Minoko, bowing to the group as they leave the temple/restaurant.

"And we're so lucky it's in Leela's neighborhood," Keiko chimes, clinging to her husband.


	31. Chapter 31

"Where to next

"Where to next?" asks Botan.

"Monument Park or the zoo," suggests Leela.

"Which is closer?" asks Yusuke.

"The park," replies Leela, "It's not far either. We can walk to it. I'm not interested in flying now."

"Same here," smiles Hiei contently, "I want that good food to settle."

"And take a walk with Leela, huh?" asks Kurama, rhetorically.

Hiei puts his arm around Leela's shoulders and walks with her to the park. "Does that answer your question?"

"So what's at this park?" asks Keiko.

"It's probably similar to Central Park in our time," suggests Shizuru.

"It's summer, so the swans are out," Leela replies, looking at Keiko's eyes sparkle, "I knew you'd like that."

"How long is it until that pig war starts?"

"At about noon today. The pigs live twelve hours away from Earth. They've traveled all night and most of the morning."

"What should I do?" asks Keiko, "Fight as well. I can't fly and I have no…"

"Have you ever fired a gun before? These proton guns are easy to use. They are deadly accurate, even if you aren't the greatest marksman," replies Leela.

"You've also got killer moves," laughs Yusuke, "The way you had Zapp doubled over like that, I'll bet he won't be pissing right for weeks."

"He doesn't do that anyways," sighs Leela, "From what Ziff tells me, he won't hit the bowl. He plays games with it."

"That sounds like what Saito does sometimes," sighs Shizuru, "He has this game where he sees how far away he can stand. His aim isn't always on mark, like most of the time. I don't know where he was taught that. At school, I guess."

"I know he didn't learn it from me," Kurama replies, "I tell him real men don't play games like that. It's just not cool."

"Megumi did that one time when she was four. When you say the phrase father's daughter, it's quite literal with her. Day after her fourth birthday, I caught her standing in front of the toilet, with pee running down her legs and onto the floor. I knew I shouldn't have asked. She said but daddy does that. Four is a little young for a sex talk, but I told her that girls have to sit."

"Hiei, you remember that with Hiro, okay. When he gets a little older, be prepared for the young child years," warns Kurama.

"I've been to your house. I remember…what was it, Leela? May? End of?"

"It was on the last Saturday. I had gotten back from training at Genkai's."

"Were you still using that flying machine?" asks Hiei.

"I only used it on long flights, or when I had Hiro with me. The night of that carnival. That was Hiro's first one. I remember because he didn't like that clown too much."

"Hell I didn't like him," retorts Hiei, "Too pushy and too stupid looking."

"Yeah, I remember that night," cringes Yusuke, sticking his tongue out, "I made the mistake of getting on the Outer Space 3000 ride. I know my stomach remembers that ride, because I saw the fried eel and rice I had for dinner come back to me. When I got off the ride, I made it just in time to the huge trashcan out in front of the ride, before going blaa. It was lucky for the parks people that they must have emptied the trash."

"That's very strange how you can travel a million light years in a spaceship and not get sick, but spend just twenty minutes on that ride and come off so sick, it's like when our dog eats grass," sighs Keiko.

"Yeah, so what happened with Sakura?" asks Leela, "During the fair, she went to the restroom with Shizuru and came back in tears?"

"Because she was getting into a fight with one of her friends."

"Yeah and it was disturbing Yuki," sighs Hiei, "My sister had her sleeping so well, but Sakura was screaming at that Sayaka girl."

"She's at the bossy-stage. I had to give her a smack on her butt for mouthing off."

"I wonder where she gets that from," sighs Kurama.

"You lucky Hiro's not old enough to be annoying, Hiei," replies Yusuke, "Yoshi is like that now, especially to Megumi."

"Aren't little brothers suppose to act that way towards their big sisters?" laughs Leela.

"I honestly don't know what you mean," laughs Shizuru, flipping back her hair with her hand.

"With you, it's the other way around," replies Keiko.

"What does Yoshi do exactly?" asks Leela, "I've been to your house, Keiko, and seen him looking like he wants to join a nudist colony."

"Yes, he loves being nude. Unfortunately, he's not fully potty-trained and pees wherever he feels like. And it's usually in Meg's room."

"Meg collects these Barbie dolls, not the kind Sakura plays with, but they are designer dolls," explains Yusuke.

"I've seen those dolls," replies Kurama, "A friend of mine's wife collects them. She loves buying the high-fashioned Barbies and has a display case for them. Many of those are very beautiful."

"Megumi is into that. Either she will save up her allowance for one or we'll buy them for her birthday and Christmas gifts."

"We've got dolls like that now," explains Leela, "You might want to buy some dolls for her before leaving the 31st century. I know Macy's has them."

"She'd love that," sighs Keiko, "Especially with the styles from this era."

"Just don't let Yoshi get to them," warns Yusuke, "One time he grabbed a Barbie doll and was cutting apart the dress with a pair of scissors he found. I caught him in the act and gave him a royal spanking."

"I remember coming home and heard him crying as loud as he could from his room," replies Keiko, "That night you took Megumi to the store and bought her the same doll and a beautiful glass cabinet for her room."

"I felt bad for her. When I explained to her what happened, boy was she pissed. First she yelled at him, and then gave him the silent treatment. Now whatever dolls she gets goes straight into the cabinet. Yoshi can look, but there's a lock on the cabinet so he can't touch them."

"Except now he throws a tantrum, but we just ignore those," sighs Keiko, "Hiei and Leela, this is what the terrible twos are all about."

"Can't we just enjoy babyhood for now?" whines Leela, "Hiro is cute and I want to enjoy every moment of him like this."

"Sure, just as long as he doesn't turn out short-fused and foul-tempered as his dad," chuckles Kurama.

"That's enough out of you," Hiei snorts.

"You rest his case, dear," sighs Leela.

"That goes double for you, Future Girl. I'll get you for that."

"How are you going to do that when you can barely keep up with me?"

"Sister, you've got that reversed first of all," Hiei corrects, "Second, I've let you win."

"Oh really, how about we settle this, right here and now."

"Hold it," interrupts Botan.

"Yeah settle it some other way," recommends Yusuke.

"What you mean we can't fight? I'm getting the itch to fight," gripes Leela.

"That or it's the green tea talking," laughs Kurama.

"Wait, didn't I pee that out?" asks Leela.

"The tea has two properties. First it cleanses your body, then it energizes you the rest of the day. Why do you think I drink it all the time? It's great to fuel spirit energy cells."

"Yeah," agrees Yusuke, "and the food we had adds to your energy. That's what I eat every morning, a bowl of rice, three pork strips, and a mug of green tea. Then I have a lunch box in the teacher's lounge at school."

"I prepare those for everyone, then send one with Yoshi when he goes to Atsuko's."

The group approaches the perimeter of the park and heads towards a crosswalk. Leela catches sight of Bender at the park entrance. "Morning, Bender." She steps on the crosswalk, activating automatic movement.

"They move on their own?" asks Keiko.

"I don't remember them doing that, of course that was back in our century," replies Kurama in a curious voice.

"Fellow meat bags, what are you doing out here?" asks Bender, "Are you coming here for recruitment?"

"For the war? I wasn't planning…" Suddenly the roar of something approaching from the sky interrupts their conversation. Leela glances up and observes a huge flying saucer droning overhead.

"What is that?" shrieks Keiko, "A UFO? Here? Aliens!"

"It's Emperor Lrrr's ship," informs Leela.

"Did you do something to upset him?" asks Bender.

"I don't know. I don't think I…" Leela's interrupted by the strong wind from the ship whizzing by her. Keiko is blown backward and is caught by Yusuke's embrace.

"What is this? Why are these aliens coming here?" Keiko shivers, holding onto her husband.

"Dear, this is the 31st century. Aliens on earth are commonplace. According to Leela, a vast majority of non-Earthlings call this place home."

"Hey jerk-wad, you forgot about us robots."

"Bender, quit being so rude."

"I'll be how I want, Leela. I'm programmed that way."

The ship lands on the street in front of the group. The bottom hatch lowers quickly and Lrrr and his wife, Ndnd, emerge from the ship. "What is this talk I hear about someone able to defeat me, the great Emperor Lrrr?"

"This self-important weirdo was who you were referring to, Leela?" asks Hiei.

"Watch what you say, you pathetic human!" thunders Lrrr.

"Hey you overgrown toad, don't call me human!" charges Hiei.

"I can see why you'd be able to defeat this guy," sighs Yusuke, "His power level is the same as a lower B demon at best."

"He's giving off 1000 kegs of energy. What are you afraid of him for, Keiko?" asks Kurama.

"Hey why are you dissing me? I'm the all powerful ruler of Omicron Persei VIII and how dare you talk about me like some weakling such as you humans."

"Weak is hardly the word I'd describe these people," smirks Leela, "We beat up and kill creatures as strong as you and with a bit more energy than you on a daily basis."

"Beat me up? Ha. Who can do that? There's nobody that can defeat me. At least nobody belonging to Earth."

"That's where you're wrong," sighs Hiei, "You're very strong, I'll give you that. But I've sliced through guys twice your size, half the time they didn't realize they were killed."

"Little man, I've got the toughest skin in the whole galaxy. Not even high-powered lasers can penetrate this skin."

"Which makes giving you a physical that much harder," sighs Ndnd, "You, short brunette."

"It…it's Keiko, ma'am."

"Don't be scared of this guy. His bark is worse than his bite."

"Woman, how dare you belittle me like that! I have a good mind…"

"To do what. You never do anything. You threaten people, but never carry it out."

"Hey I can eat humans. I'll start by devouring whoever said he or she can defeat me, first."

"You mean me, tubby?" taunts Leela.

"You? Ha! I know you. You ate our babies once." Lrrr approaches Leela, when she disappears instantly from his sight and reappears directly behind him, "Hey where did you go?" Ndnd sighs and turns him around. "How did you get behind me?"

"Simple, you fool, she ran past you," replies Hiei, "Now if you try to kill her or me, you won't see yourself drawn in half, until it was too late."

"Is that so? Prrsy," Lrrr hollers to the ship. Another Omicronian emerges from the ship with his laser rifle. "Take care of this pest."

Prrsy charges towards Hiei and fires the gun at him. "I tried to warn you." Hiei disappears from sight and reappears beside Leela, resheathing his sword.

"You didn't have to do that," sighs Leela.

Prrsy turns around to face Leela. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"Prrsy, you're belly is bleeding," informs Ndnd. Prrsy doubles over in pain, falling to his knees, holding his stomach.

"What's the matter, Leela? I held back. I didn't think this Lrrr guy would be interested in having his soldier dead."

"Prrsy's too strong. He won't die," Lrrr grumbles.

"Lrrr, that's because he was spared. We've got bigger issues today. The Space Pigs are coming here."

"Why else do you think we came here?" asks Ndnd, "All our young are onboard. Those pigs are making a mess of our nursery planet and eating the young. They've killed Jrrr already. My poor Jrrr," Ndnd covers her face with her clawed webbed hands and sobs.

"Not Jrrr, he was so cute. He was the first poppler that spoke to me. He made me convinced the popplers were intelligent creatures that didn't deserve to be eaten. But that's all the more reason we need to destroy these pigs. They want to eat us next."

"So you want to ally with us?" asks Bender, "Last time you tried to destroy us. The humans I mean."

"If you don't help us, we will kill you," replies Lrrr.

"Lrrr, I think with this bunch, it'll be the other way around," sighs Ndnd, "That human was demonstrating his point to you."

"I said I'm not human."

"So you're a mutant then?" asks Ndnd.

"Hiei, don't argue with her. What you are is irrelevant to the battle ahead of us today," sighs Leela.

Leela and her friends dash over to the park entrance and see the Nimbus in front of the lake. A huge crowd is gathered in the park, encircling the Nimbus. High on a platform stands Zapp with a microphone in his hand and Kiff standing to his right. "Welcome today, citizens of Earth. In a few short hours, we'll be engaged in war again with these Space Pigs. If you plan to fight, please come forward."

"Puny Zapp," bellows Lrrr in a loud voice, "We've come here to fight these pigs. Help us or suffer our wrath."

"Well well well, it seems you brought the lovely Leela with you."

"Him again!" snorts Hiei.

"Chill it," Leela replies, "This isn't the time or place."

"Apparently Zapp is this era's military leader. In this case, we shouldn't be too picky about our allies," says Kurama, "I'm just glad we're not alone in battle."

"He's right," sighs Leela, "Besides this is not like the battle in Tokyo, when there was just a handful of demons. This time numbers matter, especially when the enemy's numbers are in the thousands."

"Should I fight?" asks Keiko.

"Up to you. I'm going to scout the skies for the enemy," declares Botan.

"I'll come with you," replies Shizuru.

"Lrrr, do you have any spare weapons?"

"I've got proton guns and flying devices. Prrsy, go back to the ship and get…"

"Two flying devices and three guns," issues Leela.

"Why only that many?" asks Lrrr.

"Because these guys and I are able to fly on our own," explains Leela, "It's a martial arts technique."

"Fly on my own?" asks Keiko.

"You've used that jet pack of mine," replies Leela, "These devices are safer than they look."

"I'll come with you," reassures Yusuke, "You'll get a gun of your own."

"Amy will be there as well and she uses them to get around. She's e-mailing me about wanting to aid us. And we've got an ally at the zoo."

"Mukuro's here," informs Hiei.

"You've said that. Do you think she'll help us?" asks Yusuke.

"That great white tiger?" asks Bender, "She's in an enclosure."

"It's not a prison though," sighs Leela, "She can and would defend this world. I'm more than certain…" Suddenly Leela sees a huge white tiger approach from the opposite side of the lake. The tiger leaps over the lake and strides towards the Nimbus. "That's her. Mukuro," Leela hollers, waving at her.

A few voices in the crowd murmur about her appearance. "It appears some sort of big cat wants to join the fight," replies Zapp in wonder.

The tiger leaps onto the platform and noses Zapp's hand for the microphone. "Listen all," she growls, "I've heard of this war upon you all. There is a group among you today willing to fight this evil. Work with them, but do not get in their way. Among you are three very powerful demons from the 21st century and one human girl from your time with extreme powers. I can sense the group now. Come forward now and present yourselves."

"This is just how I remember her," sighs Hiei, "Mukuro is a very strong leader. It's so good she's on our side in this fight."

"Is that really her?" asks Keiko, "She's so beautiful and so huge."

Hiei disappears first, and Leela follows him close behind. Both reappear on the platform on either side of the tiger. Immediately, Hiei hugs her neck, inhaling the scent of her fur. "I've missed you."

"It's only been a few days," she purrs, licking the back of his neck with her tongue.

"Is this your girlfriend, Shorty?" asks Zapp, "Does this make Leela available again?"

"Zapp, stay out of this!" growls Mukuro, "This doesn't concern you. Leela's the woman Hiei's meant to be with. I can sense she's been taking care of him very well. He's telling me our son, Hiro is doing fine." Her gaze turns to see Yusuke and Kurama walking towards the platform. Both men kneel before her and bow to her. "I'm surprised the son of the great Lord Raizen has made his appearance here. How is that you and the Great Spirit fox are here in this era?"

"Ma'am, I'm the one who brought them here," explains Leela, "We came here to train, because the dragon Ryuku is going to be released back in the 21st century."

"That troublesome dragon? I remember the carnage I witnessed when he was released. I wished we had just slain him 1500 years ago. The first thing he did was go after Seiki's descendant and drained her power, before eating her. After that, he devoured most of the human population, nearly wiping it off the planet. It went on until 800 years ago, when he was sealed up again. Please erase my memories of him; I don't this to happen."

"Rest assure we will destroy Ryuku before that happens," replies Yusuke, "Last thing I want is to have Genkai die again, especially not by this menace."

"If we may employ our talents in this war, it will aid in our goals to defeat Ryuku. Also we want to protect the people of this world from the approaching evil," replies Kurama.

"As if you need to ask my permission, fox demon," snickers Mukuro, "You always do your own thing."

"Hold up, who made you all high and mighty, tiger? I'm the leader here and these are my soldiers," commands Zapp, "You're just a large talking animal who's better at catching a mouse for dinner."

"That's where you're wrong," informs Kurama, "She may appear as a tiger to you because she was reincarnated into one shortly after her death. But Mukuro-sama has been around for more than 2700 years now. In her former life, she was one of the three kings in Demon World. In her territory, she commanded a vast army of soldiers. She held that for the first 1700 years, before all three reigns were broken 1010 years ago by the death of one of the rulers. But even after the fall, her powers were still high. I can sense her strength even now, despite her death in my era, exactly 1000 years and two months ago."

"Kurama, you flatter me, but it's all right that Zapp-san assists me in leading this vast army today." Mukuro turns to the crowd. "Attention all fighters, I can sense you are interested in protecting your home, however I know not all are keen on fighting. There still is a spot for you as a medic. Among you are a handful of doctors and medical staff."

Leela speaks up after Mukuro, "Thankfully for us, this is a battle on our home planet. There are hospitals everywhere in the city. There will also be tents set up here in the park."

Botan flies towards the platform and lands beside Leela. She whispers into Leela's ear. "Are you serious? I see, time to roll then." "Attention. It seems the Space Pigs have been spotted near the moon."

"Right," replies Zapp, "so go to your designated locations and prepare for battle."

"I'll stay here in the park," replies Kurama, "I will defend the area from attacks, as well as help the injured."

"You're going to help me, kind sir?" asks Zoidberg, overhearing him, "I could use extra help, I could."

"By Keiko's tone, I know she's not interested in the fighting. Perhaps she can join you," suggests Leela.

"Yeah, besides she's the doctor at our house," replies Yusuke.

Amy walks up to Yusuke, twirling her proton gun, and unfolds her jetpack. "Can I help you out today?"

"I was going to fight alone…"

"Take her help," suggests Leela, "You don't know the layout of the city."

"Sure Amy. It'd be awesome to fight with you."

Fry spots Keiko and Shizuru up near the park entrance. "Hey ladies, you planning to fight?"

"I know I want to kick pork ass," Shizuru smiles with an evil glint in her eyes. She grabs a jetpack and straps it on her back.

"I want to go with Zoidberg's group, if it's all the same," sighs Keiko, "I'm not a fighter, but I want to help out."

Fry looks towards the platform at Leela, and sighs. "What has happened to Leela? She different from since I've known her."

"I know she talks about you all the time. She cares about you too," replies Keiko.

"Yes but now she's got this new guy in her life. I thought we were supposed to be together. Why did that all change?"

"That's the way things are, Fry," explains Shizuru, "It's not just Hiei she loves, but it's where she is now in life. I don't know if you know this, but that tiger up there was his girl at one time. Mukuro was the girl he thought he was meant to be with. But then this year, back in our time, she became weak from a combination of childbirth and foul play and died. Your Leela met Hiei when Mukuro was on her last legs. She was there for him to let him grieve. Every now and then, he weeps for Mukuro, and she's there to comfort and love him."

"So it wasn't love at first sight?" asks Fry, "But what attracts her to him? His good looks, his speed…"

"Common history," replies Keiko, "She said she was raised in an orphanage her whole life. Her parents didn't die."

"I know. They left her there, thinking she'd have a better life on the surface, rather than in the sewers," explains Fry.

"Hiei's been through the same sort of thing. He's an orphan as well. His mother has passed on and he was alone his whole life."

"I'm an orphan too," replies Fry, "ever since I was frozen and came here."

"But you knew your parents, correct?" asks Shizuru.

"Yes, I grew up in my parents' house with my brother, Yancy. Now I work for my nephew, Professor Farnsworth."

"Fry, try to imagine what living without anybody in your life is like. No parents, no friends, no relatives. What family you did have, threw you away like you were trash, just for being different. Society doesn't accept you at all. People look at you like some disgusting cock roach," explains Keiko, "Try living like that for 700 years."

"Seriously, who lived like that? I can't imagine someone going through all of that," sighs Fry, shaking his head.

"Hiei's lived that life though. His sister loves him, but his family kicked him out right after he was born. No bothering with an orphanage, they just tossed him away, making him fend for himself. He would have died if a band of thieves hadn't found him," sighs Shizuru.

"So then that's why Leela's with him. She feels sorry for him. With that kind of bad luck, I can see how she'd want to end his loneliness."

"You add the fact the woman who was going to end his painful heart, dies on him, leaving their son with him to care for," replies Keiko, "It's enough to just feel for the guy and even cry on his behalf."

"So Leela doesn't just love him, she feels obligated to stay by his side. I should know that much about her. She doesn't leave the abandoned. Since she was abandoned herself as a baby, she must then understand Hiei's pain of abandonment. That's why she sympathizes. I feel for him myself, now that you've told me about him. She's like that with Nibbler…which where is the little guy?"

"He's back home in our era. He's with the woman Leela spirit trains with, Master Genkai," says Keiko, "He's probably eating monsters right now."


	32. Chapter 32

Leela quickly springs into the air and lands on top of the Nimbus. "Those of you who wish to defend the harbor, please follow me."

"That's our cue as well," Fry tells Shizuru, "I plan to defend my nephew's home." He fires up his jetpack and preps his gun. Shizuru follows close behind. Keiko spots Zoidberg and strides towards him.

Leela flies across the tree lines and rooftops, leading a group of ten fighters. Among the members of her band include Fry, Shizuru, and Hiei. "Do you think it was safe leaving Amy with Yusuke?" asks Hiei.

"Worried about him or her?" Leela chuckles.

"He's more powerful of course, but…"

"I emailed Amy to behave herself. Mr. Tall-dark-and-handsome is taken."

"Where's Bender?" asks Fry.

"He's with Yusuke and Amy's group. They are heading out to the other end of Manhattan," answers Leela.

"What's in that area?" asks Shizuru.

"A great deal of the pigs is heading directly that way. I know because I'm reading the general's mind right now. He wants to corner us and come at us from all sides."

"Yeah, I'm reading his thoughts too," replies Hiei, "These ugly things don't know what they're in for."

Just then a silver disk-shaped space-fighter plunges straight into the bay, in front of Planet Express. Shortly, a black spherical ship pursues it. Hiei zips in front of the black ship and slices it open. Inside the ship, he sees a dark-brown pig in a black uniform.

Leela quickly spots three spherical ships fast approaching. She glances at Fry and Shizuru, and then turns her attention towards the ships. She lands on a ship and blasts it apart with her Spirit Bomb. The ship explodes and the pig-pilot ejects.

Fry shoots at a ship with his proton gun and destroys both the ship and its pilot. Fry sees a pig ship zip by and approach a tall red-haired woman. "Hey Zoë, he's coming at you."

"I'm on him Fry," she hollers, dodging the pig's advances. Zoë shoots at the ship and destroys it. The pig ejects but is met on the ground by a muscular bald man.

Meanwhile, Leela concentrates on five ships approaching. She zips by each on and slices them with her Spirit Lance.

Shizuru leaps onto a ship and jabs her spear through the hull, killing the pilot. She grabs the ship and hurls it towards to more ships, slamming all three into the ocean.

Leela sees two members of the team checking out the crashed silver ship. "He's alive," announces a dark-blonde man wearing a blue uniform.

Leela radios for Botan. "We've got an injured man here in the bay, just outside Planet Express."

"10-4," she responds.

"Is that one of your ships?" asks Shizuru.

"No, but I recognize the ship. That's McLark's ship. He was one of the first guards patrolling the upper atmosphere."

"McLark Trilo is here?" asks Fry, "I didn't think he'd be interested in helping Earth."

"He's got as much to lose with these pigs as we do," Leela replies, as she continues to charge at the approaching ships. She jams her lance into a ship and flings it like a bowling ball, knocking five more ships approaching the bay. All six ships explode immediately upon impact.

"Hey, isn't that what you humans call a strike?" asks Hiei.

"You need ten pins for that," laughs Fry. Both men look straight ahead and fly towards the marauders. "Okay Pigs," Fry sneers, "This is what you get for messing with Earth." He switches his proton beam to high laser and blasts incoming bogies.

Leela scans the minds of one of the pilots. "This isn't good. It's like this bunch are buying time for something."

"They have a plan?" asks Fry.

Leela calls up Yusuke on her wristband. "How are you guys holding up?"

"These things are persistent. I've killed at least 50. Amy's in the middle of fighting ten aliens all at once. These guys are weak. They don't put up much resistance at all."

"I'm thinking that this wave is weak for a reason. Something big is going to happen and they are buying time."

"You mean this is just like with Seiichi?" asks Yusuke, "These pigs are doing just that."

"That's what I suspect. The minds of these pilots are reading something fishy."

"So what do we do? Continue fighting?"

"If we stop fighting, they might suspect something's up. Hey if you get tired of fighting with your energy, just pick up a proton gun."

"I'll think about it. Over and out," Yusuke salutes, shutting off the transmission. Leela dodges the fired mortar from an advancing ship and blasts the ship with a Spirit Bomb. The pig ejects from his cockpit with a jetpack strapped to his back. He tries to grab Leela, only to have her slip out and swiftly kick him straight into the ground, instantly killing him.

Leela watches Botan fly towards the bay to the triclops' ship on the ground. "Sorry it took so long getting here. Five aliens, wanting to kill me, were chasing me."

"And you managed to get away…" replies Leela."

"I killed them. I have one of those guns with me." Botan lands on the ground in front of the ship. "Oh my gosh, Hiei. Are you okay?"

"I'm up here, stupid," he announces, standing on the Planet Express' dome.

"That's McLark," Leela informs, "McLark Trilo."

"He's a twin? He looks…"

"Hey, beautiful stranger," McLark coughs, looking at Botan, "I thought I was a goner."

Leela flies to his side. "Hey, it's you. Since when do you fly, Leela?"

"I've been training in the 21st century. It's a new martial arts move."

"So blue-haired babe, what are you here to do?"

"Are you hurt? I could transport you to the park. There's a medical tent there."

"I'm fine," McLark tries to stand but cringes upon every movement of his body. "My leg hurts like a mother…"

Botan examines his legs. She sees blood and a gaping wound in one of the legs. "Hi…I mean McLark, you've got a broken leg. I'll take you to the park to the medical tent."

"McLark, go with her," Leela commands, "One of our friends is a great medical doctor and a sweet guy. I'll radio ahead and let him know your coming." McLark complies and is lifted on the back of Botan's oar by Leela. "Also play one of your little jokes on him."

"Which one, Leela?"

"Your fake clone routine."

"Why's that?" McLark asks. Botan lifts him into the air, followed closely behind by Leela, to the top of the Planet Express building. Almost immediately, McLark spots Hiei looking right at him. Both men gasp and study each other. "You've made a clone of me, Leela?"

"Hey, I'm nobody's clone. What is with you looking like me?"

"Didn't I tell you, you weren't scary to me when we first met, Hiei?" smirks Leela, "Now you know why. You two look exactly alike."

"I've never seen this guy before," remarks McLark, "besides he's got red eyes, while I've got blue."

"That's the only difference about your appearance," laughs Leela.

"So you've got someone here you want me to pull a prank on?" asks McLark, "Sounds like fun. Pranks and gags are my specialty."

"You'd better be careful though, other me, because the guy Leela's talking about is also an expert at pulling pranks. If you aren't smart enough, he'll see right through your cheap disguise."

"Excuse me, Mr. Important, but I was born like this. My brothers, mom, dad…just everyone I know has three eyes on their faces and looks like me. Besides you seem to be the one with the cheap disguise. Your third eye doesn't match the other two. It's not even the right color. Does yours even see at night?"

"Why you? How dare you talk to me like that! Do you have any idea who I am or what I…?"

"Hiei, stop it now. This isn't the time or place," scolds Leela, "We still are at war with these pigs and this is no time for these petty insults. Botan, get him some treatment before he loses even more blood."

"Neat, so instead of a stale ambulance, this blue-haired angel is taking me to the medical tent instead. It's as though I'm being escorted to heaven."

"It's not your time yet, McLark," assures Botan.

"You know, you've got the body and hair of an angel, but you don't have the white robe or wings. Instead you've got street clothes and a huge spoon."

"You're a pretty talkative guy, McLark. I don't wear a white robe or fly with wings. Pink kimono is my usual style. But I wear that when escorting dead souls to the afterlife."

"What an interesting job. So you are an angel for real. And you are a servant of the Great Goddess, herself, Shilopa."

"Who's Shilopa?" asks Botan.

"You know the creator of all things. Goddess Shilopa. She's the one who created the universe with her paintbrush of life."

"I don't work for a goddess. She must be the deity your religion believes in. I work for the son of the Great King Yama."

"Sounds like the god of sweet potatoes," smirks McLark.

"I said Yama, not yams."

"I know, sister. I'm just messing with you." Botan flies toward the medical and lands in front of the ER entrance.

"Is your other leg okay, or is it…"

"The other one doesn't hurt, but just the broken…yeouch it hurts." Botan carries him inside to an open white cot. She sees Zoidberg walk towards her.

"Thank you for bringing McLark here. This is McLark, isn't it? You're not that guy Leela's with?" asks Zoidberg.

"Of course Zoidberg. My spacecraft was shot down outside your building. This angel…what's the name again…"

"Botan," she replies.

"Right, well the angel Botan flew me here on her own. That was fun, darling."

"Zoidberg, I can't get him to stop talking or flattering me. Should I stay here, or leave and see if others need help?"

"Wow, I thought you said this wasn't my time, Botan? I see another angel approaching. Beautiful brunette. I have died and gone to heaven."

"Hiei are you all right?"

"And the angel has a beautiful voice too," laughs McLark.

"Keiko, this is McLark Trilo of Triclopicous 9," introduces Zoidberg.

"Right, I should have known from when he called me angel just now. Hiei never says that to me."

"Nor to me," laughs Botan, "this guy is also quite a talker and called me darling."

"Isn't that what a guy is supposed to do when he confronts a beautiful woman?" asks McLark, "My parents didn't raise me to be rude. My father even taught me how to win a girl's heart."

"So you've got parents?" asks Keiko, "Are they still around?"

"Alive you mean? Of course, why do you ask that?"

"The guy that looks like you, you know the one on that rooftop…" Botan starts to explain.

'Don't tell that fool about me,' sneers Hiei in telepathy, 'or else I'll…'

Leela sighs and looks at him. 'Do what? Kill her somehow? You're not doing that, no sir, especially not while I'm alive.' 'Ignore him, Botan.'

"Right well, this guy is an orphan with one twin sister."

"What just happened?" smirks Keiko, "Did Hiei threaten you?"

"Yes but Leela basically told him to shut up." Keiko snickers through Botan's comment.

"She's good at taming him," laughs Keiko, "Of all the years we've known him, this is the first time a girl has got him wrapped around her little finger."

"That's just the way Leela is," replies Zoidberg, "She used to control Fry like that."

"Shh…" Botan whispers, "Leela just told me she's paged Dr. Minamino to come in here. She wants you to try to relax and close your eyes, McLark."

"Should I fall asleep too?"

"No, just…hey, Zoidberg-san, should I wrap his leg?" asks Keiko.

"Get him some antiseptic. It's that pink ointment off the cart."

Keiko grabs a small, four-inch, round tub of cream and twists the lid off. "Eww this stuff stinks. What is it, Doc?"

"It's cream of Tempus worms with pink aliker-vine juice. Take a sponge and coat it in the Tempus cream and wipe it on his injured leg."

"C…c…ream of…worms? That's…" Keiko slams the ointment on the cart and races out of the tent with her hand clammed on her mouth.

"Great going there, Doc," sighs McLark, "Why did you tell her something like that? Now she's outside, throwing up."

"What, so you're the great expert now?" retorts Zoidberg.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to be tactful, especially around women? She doesn't need to know what's in the stuff. Women are these delicate creatures that the Goddess Shilopa has made in her image and likeness, and we men must be suave around them at all times. Who knows if one of the women you see isn't the Goddess, herself, in disguise."

"So what's going on? Keiko's outs…Hiei are you okay?" asks a startled Kurama.

"What…who the hell are you?"

"You don't remember me? It's me."

"Okay, Itsme, I was brought here because this beautiful blue-haired dame flew me here. I've got an injured leg. It hurts like a bitch."

"That young nurse was in here and was about to put Tempus Cream on his injured leg," explains Zoidberg.

"No wonder I saw Keiko outside, puking. This stuff stinks. Is this even an antiseptic?"

"I use that on open wounds."

"Zoidberg, on the bottle it says for fish only? This is a human."

"Who the hell is a human? I'm a triclops, thank you."

"Sorry about that, huh…" "Hey Zoidberg, I need to set the leg. Do you have anything in here that's not used to treat fish injuries?"

"Oh for humans. Yes there is something else."

Keiko staggers back into the medical tent, wiping the corners of her mouth. "You feeling any better?" asks Kurama.

"Yes, just keep that stuff away from me."

"That stuff you had was for healing fish. Why did you bring it here Zoidberg? Most of these soldiers are from this planet, so they're human."

"I'm not from this planet," replies McLark.

"You aren't? Oh, you must be that guy Leela was talking about."

"I saw her back at the Planet Express building. I saw this guy there that could have passed for my twin. But I'm not a twin; both my brothers are younger than me."

"That's the guy I thought you were. Usually I not fooled by mistaken identity. I don't know if I'll be able to live this one down."

"Don't be that way. Honestly, that can happen to anyone. It certainly happened to me when I saw my double just a while ago. I thought someone was showing me a mirror."

"So you're McLark Trio, I assume," chimes Kurama.

"That's what my parents named me. Yes."

"McLark almost sounds like a last name."

"Nope, Doc, Trio's the surname. Lot's of people make that mistake."

"By the way, Zoidberg, the cream for human treatment is blue, not pink," informs Kurama, "and it smells better."

"Let me smell," insists Keiko, "Mm, smells like blue raspberry."

"Cream of Tempus berry with blue aliker-vine juice. Wow, this is antiseptic cream you rub on injured parts of the body and it heals the flesh and mends broken bones and joints. Wearer must keep their body part straight, cast if necessary for twenty-four hours. For humanoid use." "Hey Zoidberg, where can I buy this stuff?" asks Kurama.

"Most health places carry stuff like that," informs Zoidberg.

"What does it do?" asks Keiko. Kurama hands her a four-inch blue tub and asks her to read.

"Didn't I say the future holds all sorts of cures for ailments? I could stock an entry pantry at the hospital with this stuff. Can't tell you how many broken bone or injury cases I get. This stuff heals people fast."

"I've had my arm in a cast for six months, not twenty-four hours. I would buy this for the family. This would have worked that one time Megumi sprained her ankle. So what do you do, just rub this stuff into Hi…I mean McLark's broken leg?"

"Hi…McLark. Damn are we going to almost call you our friend's name all day?"

"If you want to. Heemclark sounds fine to me."

"Okay, now that's much easier to figure you out. Different personality. Okay, McLark, this might hurt, but be brave." Kurama slowly pulls McLark's leg out straight. McLark winces in pain, while gritting his teeth. "This leg needs to be kept straight for at least one full day. Keiko, could you rub that stuff into his leg?"

"McLark's got his pants on still. Should he remove them himself? I'm only used to undressing the kids."

"You're used to undressing Yusuke too," smirks Kurama.

"Don't go there. Especially around this guy who still looks too much like Hiei. Leela undresses this one, not me."

"Turonga Leela undresses me? Since when?" asks McLark.

"Keiko doesn't mean you. That guy you saw at Planet Express; he's a very close friend of mine. His name is Hiei and Leela is his main squeeze."

"You should have been here earlier. Botan was in here and she was just explaining to McLark about his double…"

"I overheard part of it. He threatened Botan and Leela told him off. The girl has guts and a sharp tongue, sharper than his sometimes."

"I'll strip off my own pants. I'm not a child. These are instant anyways." McLark presses the top button on his pants' waistline and causes the pants of his uniform to vanish.

"How come I've never met you or him before? I've been told about unrelated people having doubles, but I just didn't think I was one of those people."

"We're not from this century," explains Keiko, "This isn't even our country. Japan is."

"We're from the 21st century."

"How did you end up in the 31st century, if you don't mind me asking?" asks McLark.

"Leela's has a flux capacitor in her car…"

"Okay, that's how you ended up here. I didn't think you humans lived 1000 years, unless you were cryogenically frozen, like that Phil Fry was." "So who's all here? So far I've seen my double, and that blue-haired cutie, the two of you…are you married? I see wedding rings on your fingers."

"The both of us are married, but not to each other. My husband, Yusuke, is out in the battlefield with Amy Wong," explains Keiko.

"And my wife, Shizuru, is out fighting with Leela's group."

"By the way, how are things going with the war?" asks Keiko.

"The pigs are troublesome. I did see a good number of soldiers attack the incomings. I know I saw Leela flying without a jetpack or any flying device. How does she do that? Majority of Earthicans can't fly without some sort of device."

"She's been training with one of our oldest and dearest friends, back in the 21st century. She's has this power that I even use. It's called spirit energy. She matches skills with my best friend all the time, even spars with him."

"Leela spars with Yusuke also. He's had that when he was fourteen. I think he's jealous how someone can outmaneuver him in battle, and in only a couple of months of training with that power."

"There's more to that for what Leela puts out, Keiko. For one thing, her spirit muscle was reached by Koenma when she was already a martial arts master. Master Genkai was basically teaching another master. All Leela did was incorporate her spirit energy into her normal routine. Master fighters usually know how to do that."

"She did say she graduated the fight academy at fourteen and has been fighting ever since. I think she said she started at age six. So she's had nineteen years of experience, eight years more than my husband. I think Genkai likes her better because Leela doesn't gripe about the training."

Keiko withdraws a damp sponge and coats it in the blue Tempus cream. "So you just rub this stuff into McLark's wound and…?" She pats the sponge over the broken bones in his leg, around the bleeding wound. "I still don't know how a…oh my gosh! That's how. Kurama, check this out." The cream immediately mixes with the water in the sponge and the blood on McLark's leg and foams.

"What did you do?"

"All I did was rub this stuff on him and it just does this. The cream lathers up and covers the entire leg. Now what?"

"Hey Zoidberg, could you come here?" ushers Kurama.

Zoidberg scuttles over to McLark with a nurse robot. "What seems to be the problem, fellow doctor?"

"What does this Tempus cream do to the wound? Keiko applied it to this man's injury and it's foaming and…?"

"Simple, it will absorb into his leg. I brought this nurse over here to check out the progress."

"Here you go, doctor," the robot replies. She opens her chest plate and produces an X-ray monitor. "I can zoom in on this patient's injury if you'd like."

"What is that? This cream is repairing the break on his femur and tabular. Literally, it's piecing the fragments back together. But how is this being repaired this quickly? Bones generally take a lot of time to heal."

"Let me zoom in for you, sir," offers the nurse. "There, curious human. Now you can see what is really going on."

Kurama's eyes open wide at the sight. "Keiko, are you seeing this? What are these things around his bones?"

"I don't know, they look like tiny machines. Microscopic machines."

"Those are micro-bots," informs the nurse, "They are performing internal surgery on his bones. They dissolve the fragments and clone them back onto the whole bone, restoring it like new again. They even repair the cartilage and tendons surrounding his kneecap."

"Is there a way to buy this stuff in bulk? It would come in really handy back at the hospital. So what happens to the robots after they are done repairing him?"

"They break down and absorb into his bloodstream. Then his body filters them out with his urine. After he urinates, they simply disintegrate."

"How long is does this process take?" asks Kurama.

"It depends on the severity of the injury. I think in McLark's case, the repair should take at least six hours or less. After that, he will need the rest of the twenty-four hours to recover."

"So the real secret to this cream is there's micro-machines in it that take over the job of platelets and white blood cells. I wish we had that technology in the 21st century. That would make my job as a doctor super easy. This must explain the prolonged life of humans in Leela's era."

"How old did she say Mr. Farnsworth was? 160 years old?" asks Keiko, "That's really old for a human. For us, living to 100 is amazing."

"Why aren't you guys fighting the war?" asks McLark.

"I'll be going back outside after awhile to protect this park from invaders. I'm used to war."

"I don't like war. I'm not a fighter like my husband is. I did remind Amy not to get attached to him in the heat of battle. She's marrying Kiff anyways."

"You think she'd try anything, even with you here?"

"I'd worry about yourself, Mr. Tall-Red-and-Handsome. That girl's been flirting with you ever since we arrived."

'Hey, Kurama, are you busy? You've got intruders coming into your area.' Leela alerts him telepathically, 'I'm sorry. We tried to stop them but they just flew by us.'

'It's okay, Leela. I understand you were trying to get them all. I'm finished with that McLark guy.'

"Keiko, could you take over for me? Leela's out by Planet Express warning me about Space Pigs invading the park."

"She can talk to you all the way from that harbor?" asks McLark.

"In telepathy, distance isn't much of an obstacle. She talks to Hiei all the time like that, no matter where he is. Forget cell phones or text messages; it's like Leela's standing right in front of me. It's a great thing in tight spots, or in this case a war where electronic signals can be jammed or computers be hacked by the enemy."

'So, Leela, what's going on at your end?' Kurama thinks to her.

'My group is trying to catch these guys as much as possible. However, there's a second wave of invaders fighting us now. This is what is coming your way. We tried killing most of the Space Pigs, but these guys have much thicker ships and require more energy output from us. I've told Yusuke if he gets tired of using his own energy, to pick up a gun and start shooting.'

'Yusuke with a real gun? Now that's an interesting idea. I don't know if a real weapon is his thing.'

'Don't knock it. In huge all-out battles such as this, weapons do come in handy.'

'So are you fighting still, Leela?'

'There's a second wave of soldiers heading our way. I'm about to take a break. I know Hiei's getting tired, so are Shizuru and Fry. We'll just be inside the building here.'

'How long do you predict this war will last, Leela?'

'Hard to say with a war. My guess is you aren't used to fighting like this. One on one is more your strategy. If you get tired, you can knock off and let someone else take over. I'm using this battle as an excuse to train.'

'I've fought in a war before, but you're right, not like this. Actual military combat isn't what I'm used to.'

While walking out of the medical tent, Kurama suddenly feels the rush of an incoming attack. Immediately he smacks the ground, creating a grass barrier around the tent. He peers up immediately to see car-sized spacecraft whiz by through the air, firing lasers at the shielded tent.

'Leela, can you hear me? We're in real trouble over here.'

'The second wave of our men is here as well.' "First wave, meet me in the hanger at once," Leela orders.

"Why are we doing that?" asks Shizuru.

"That spaceship is also a war ship. We need more power than what we've got now and there is no way you guys can survive this attack. I doubt Ryuku is armed to the teeth like these Space Pigs are."

"I can take these things on myself," Hiei gripes.

"And have you die on me? I don't think so. You're not doing that to me."

"Ha, she told you," smirks Shizuru, "You're training him well, Leela."

"What she thinks she can just control me like that?"

"Hiei, my good man," laughs Fry, "That's just what women do. After you date a girl a couple of times, she owns you."

"Is that right?"

"The thing is, buddy, if you obey your girl and make her happy, she will treat you really well. If you are like Prince Charming to her, she'll put out. But if you cross her and make her mad, she'll put you out on the street."

"Fry, do you speak from experience?" smirks Hiei.

"I've been with several girls. Leela was one of them. I've known her longer than you have and she did that to me when we were going out."

"I know she's talked about you a lot. I know she had feelings for you, Fry. You were lovers before I met her in my era. I'm sorry if it feels I've stolen Leela away from you."

"Don't worry about that," Fry sighs, "I've had the feeling for quite some time she wasn't happy here. She never was really into me all that much. We were married one time even, but that didn't last long."

"It was the intention for you to return to your era, though."

"Actually I like it here. At first I was just about to do anything to go back in time. I even did that once. But the 20th century was not for me. I don't think the 21st would have been for me either. I wasn't happy in my old life," Fry sighs. "To be honest, I don't think Leela was happy in this era. She never really fit in up here on the surface. She hated her job, her only friends were here at Planet Express."

"She looks at home as a spaceship captain."

"It's not the best job, really. Our salaries are always getting cut, plus our weekends are shot. Also her talents as a fighter are wasted here."

Leela flies back towards the hanger and is met by her team members. She quickly types the security keypad and unlocks the door to the hanger. Immediately she hurries her team onboard and takes the controls.

"How are you handling the fact that she's my girl now?"

"I'll admit I'm jealous and a little heart-broken, but I'm managing. At least I know you're not a creep or a gross half-whit like Zapp is. You're not after her for sex or something to just use and throw away."

"I've met someone, actually, a couple of weeks ago," Fry continues to say, "Her name is Lisa Nash. She is an old high school fling of mine and was frozen for 1000 years, like me. I'm still jealous you've got Leela now, but I'm a man and I can handle this."

Fry opens an upper hatch of the ship and seats himself in the rotating artillery seat. "I'm ready, Leela," he announces over the intercom.

"Confirmed," Leela responds, as she launches the ship into the air and flies it toward the park.

"Is this really necessary? I seriously can kill whatever is in front of us," gripes Hiei.

"I know that much already, however what we're fighting isn't that dragon you showed me. I've got a bad feeling about this war. I've got a really bad feeling that it will take your lives and I'm not going to have you killed. Did Ryuku have missiles and nuclear weapons with him?"

"He's didn't need that to devastate the lands of Musashi. He did that under his own power, well his and Notaku's."

"I know that and in that dream you gave me, that was no coma you slipped into. You died in the dream."

"What does flying this thing in the war have to do with that training you want to do?"

"I have been giving it my all, but every fighter needs a break. You were coming close to calling it a day. Besides there's something bigger coming than what these Space Pigs are letting on. They've got a plan to wipe us out completely and take over Earth. In order to do that, they're going to most likely bring a huge bomb or weapon from their side. I've read the minds of these enemy pilots. This is the opening act."

"So what do you plan to do if this huge weapon gets here?"

Leela smiles at him with an evil gleam in her eye. "Plant a virus on it and make it explode aboard the mother ship. Since Japanese is a dead language here, I'll make that the destruction code." Leela flies over the park and spots an enemy ship entangled in a snaky vine. Leela spots a pig aboard the ship, lying dead over his console. Immediately, she lands on the ground in front of the medical tent.

She exits her ship and stares at the broken Pig ship. She follows the trunks of the vines from the ground and sees them spiral upward through the haul. She sees four more pig-aliens lying face down on the ground, without a single sign of life from them. 'Where did this…how did this happen?'

'It's Kurama's doing, no doubt of that. In order to protect these injured victims from even more attack, he made this vine grow out of the ground and overcome this ship.'

"If they had only stayed away and not tried to attack," sighs Kurama, "I'm sorry about killing another animal."

"No need," Leela replies, "These guys are a menace to the Democratic Order Of Planets and are a constant threat. There is no other way handle them. Negotiating with them is out of the question. Hey this is a war they started."

Suddenly Fry spots a fleet of ships heading towards the park. "Leela," he announces over her wristband, "we've got incoming bogies approaching this central base. What should we do?"

"Launch from the second torpedo cannon. There's an instant force-field net loaded there. That should provide protection for central base."

Fry complies with Leela and fires the net over the park home base. Instantly a neon-green mesh explodes overhead, surrounding the park's perimeter and creating a green overlay of the sky.

"What does that do?" asks Kurama in a curious voice.

"This is a force field and it should provide you enough protection from enemy fire. It repels attacks, sending it back at the enemy."

"How long does it last?"

"As long as you want it to. I was planning to buy this to protect the border back home." Leela spots an opening in the hull of the enemy ship and fires a tiny probe from her wristband. "Search through the data aboard this ship." Immediately the probe chirps and zips straight into the console and scans quickly through the computer data, uploading findings onto her wristband, instantly. Within seconds the probe completed its research and returned to the wristband.

'Leela, there's something wrong here,' alerts Hiei in thought, 'Can you hear a tiny squeaking noise?'

'Tiny squeak…' "Fry, quickly hack the computer and get this enemy ship out of here at once," Leela shouts, "Kurama, tear down this plant right now."

"Why? What's going on?" asks Kurama, complying with her command.

"This ship is about to self-destruct in ten minutes and there's enough explosive power here to create a hundred-mile wide crater. That would wipe out the whole city."

"Leela, their computer keeps rejecting me. It requires the password."

"The password is hogwin4735. You also need identification scans." Leela sighs and zips inside the ship itself. She spots the pilot lying over the console. She places his hoofed hand on the scanner and forces open his eye. 'This one's alive but barely conscious,' she thinks in astonishment. Immediately she unbuckles his harness.

"What are you…doing?" asks the pilot, "Why aren't you leaving me here to die?"

"I can't do that. I need you alive, Pig, because I need answers. You guys didn't have to come here today. I hate wasting your lives like this. The Earth has nothing against your kind, just your obsession to kill us." She hoists him on her back and dashes back outside with him.

As soon as she steps off with the pilot, the empty ship zips back off into space, under the indirect control of Fry. Within minutes of takeoff, Leela watches the ship eclipse the sun and explode. "But, human, we have orders to take this planet for ourselves. Ours is dying and the sun is burning out. Threats of it turning into a black hole are becoming more real every day. Our civilization is dying and we need a new planet to call our own."

"Why are you destroying others people's planets though? There are planets all over the galaxy not being occupied by anyone."

"Our solar system is in the same region as the Omicronian system. There are twelve planets in their system, with at least eight are habitable and Lrrr only controls three."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. I've been to his solar system several times."

"My king has asked him several times if we could live on one of the unoccupied planets, but he refuses us. We've tried everything we could, even offered to lend some of our finest soldiers, like me, to side with his army. We would even keep the planet neat and tidy for him, but nothing worked. After so long the king became tired of being turned down by Lrrr, so the next option was to try to find a solar system to call our own. The last resort was to take it from someone else."

"You know there is a planet not too far from here that is uninhabited. It's only a couple of light years from here."

"We were looking at that option too. Several of our scouts have checked it out, but they were all turned away by Branaggan's Law #0-54836B8."

"Zapp just makes up those laws. They aren't enforced by DOOP."

"We tried to negotiate a deal with him to have that solar system next to yours, but he wouldn't budge."

"Trying to reason with Zapp was your first mistake. He's not a diplomat, he wouldn't know how to solve your problem, or even try for that matter. So you guys decided to attack Earth, in the hopes of keeping it as your trophy. But the stakes are too grand and you and your fellow soldiers are throwing your lives away on this futile war. I knew something was up with war from the start."

"So do we stop this now?" asks Kurama.

"We've got little choice, especially with this information and his eagerness to talk. Usually with a POW, you can't get anything out of him. If they were really out to destroy our planet, they would have simply done it by now. Plus their king wouldn't have warned us last night."

"Lrrr said he needed help and they were making a mess of the nursery planet."

"Kurama, that was a lie. I read his mind when he said that. The Space Pigs weren't attacking it and eating their babies. Lrrr is a bully and he just wanted us to do his dirty work. These pigs have very few options left. Their entire race is becoming extinct by the death of their sun." Leela emails Yusuke.

"What's going on now? I'm in the middle of fighting here."

"I know, but stop now."

"I thought you said not to or they might suspect something."

"I've got information from a soldier we've captured who was more than willing to talk. I'm at central command, outside of the make-shift hospital." She glances at the pilot sitting on the ground with tears streaming down his face.

"Please, don't destroy out mother ship. My whole family is aboard it. My sow and litter need a home. We can't go back and face extinction. This war has wiped out enough of our people as it is. Henry, Wallis, you guys aboard my ship," the pilot utters through his tear-soaked voice, while looking at his dead comrades, "I will remember you."

"Was that from the enemy you captured? I overheard him. Can't very well fight an enemy whose main goal in the war is for their people to survive. I'll relay your message to Amy and Bender right away."

"Zapp is the one who started this war," sighs Leela.

"Did you read his mind too?" asks Kurama.

"I don't have to with him. Doing that would be overkill. Zapp's goal is to come out of the conflict a hero and to hell with anyone else. A purple heart to him is more important than the lives of both the enemy and our side."

"So this war was really a means of communication between worlds. I've seen conflicts like this with that topic in mind. The enemy just wants a place to call their own."

"They aren't evil, just desperate and homeless." Leela stares at the pilot, watching him rock back and forth on his haunches, biting on one of his hooved-hands. She kneels beside the shaking pig and places her arms around his pudgy body. She closes her eye and sighs.

'How can you be sure he's not lying, Leela? I don't trust him. He's the enemy, don't forget.'

'I haven't forgotten his side is the enemy. We are still at war, Hiei, but…I'm…' Tears start rolling down her cheeks, 'I wouldn't have believed his story either if his thoughts weren't confirming it and making me cry. There is more to his story. Those thousands of pigs approaching Earth are all that's left. Their Armageddon has already started and the planet they used to live on is so bad, nothing can survive on it. On other planets of their region, the devastation has annulated their species completely. This army and their families aboard the mother ship is all there is.' Leela holds onto this pig's body and starts sobbing. "Hey, Pig…"

"It's Hampton. Porgy Hampton."

"Porgy, I'm sorry but I read your mind just now and I'm so sorry this is happening to your people."

"If you read my mind, then you know why this war was started in the first place. We can't go home, that will be the end for us."

Suddenly a picture flashes through Leela's mind. She sees a planet pockmarked with volcanoes and scorched, burning ground. Fires erupt constantly in spots with very little vegetation clinging to the rocky surface. She sees a mass of pig skeletons strewn across the land. "Is this what your home looks like, Porgy?"

"It's dying and taking our people with it."

"Kurama, his thoughts are worse than what Hiei showed me in that dream. Nothing survives this. This Armageddon is happening now. I don't think Ryuku would do this much damage. Life would still continue if he wakes up, even if we aren't in it. But this…" "Would Ryuku go so far as to destroy Earth itself and wipe out everything?"

"Leela, come into the tent with me. The way you are now."

"But I can't just leave Porgy. His kind is…"

"I know and I can tell by your thoughts and actions, you're about to lose it." Kurama helps her to stand and walks her to through the tent entrance.

"You didn't see what I saw in his visions of home. You didn't see all those bodies of his people. All those lives gone, just like that."

"Actually I did see them too. It was immediately after asking Porgy about his home. His planet looked similar to the plains of Musashi after Ryuku's destruction, but that was just that small area. Porgy's people are becoming extinct by astronomical means, which Ryuku could never do at his most powerful state."

"I just can't imagine this sort of thing happening here. What would happen if that were our solar system in jeopardy of overall collapse? Where would we go? How many lives would be lost because of it? I just can't… We need to help them out somehow. We need…we nee…" Leela covers her hands over her face. Kurama wraps his arms around her and cradles her head next to his shoulder and upper chest. She starts sobbing as hard as she can.

Outside the tent, Amy and Yusuke approach the Planet Express ship. Amy immediately sees Porgy sitting on the ground, fighting back his tears. "What's going on here? Why is there a Space Pig on the ground, crying?"

"Leela said there was a POW willing to spill his guts. This must be him."

"This is it. We're done for. This war was a mistake. The emperor wanted to ask for help, but now it's too late. Now Zapp will want to destroy all of us. DOOP Supreme Council won't even hear our case now. Shyla, my beautiful sow, we aren't going to make it. We are all dead as it is." Yusuke sighs deeply and approaches the shivering pig. Immediately he takes Porgy by the collar of his spacesuit and punches him across the face.

"What did you do that for?" protests Amy.

"Snap out of it, Pig. I didn't fly back here to hear your cowardly talk. If you guys want to move somewhere else, why are you so gung-ho about picking on us Earthicans. You think you are the only ones that had to fight against an apocalypse. At least your era has the technology to move to another solar system in the galaxy. A true hero sacrifices himself to save his race, even to the point of death. Are you willing to die to save others?"

"Yusuke, what are you saying this for?" asks Amy, "Have you been through this yourself?"

"In fact, yes. My friends and I had to prevent the end of the world fourteen years ago in my era, and I had to pay the cost of saving all of humanity and life on Earth with my own, and I was willing to do that."

"What does that mean?" Amy shrieks.

"It's what you think it means. I died to save the Earth."

"So is this body of yours a clone then?"

"No, I've not been cloned. The death just didn't last long. It felt more like I passed out, but it was a real death."

"But how can that be? You die like it's no big deal?"

"Leela asked me the same thing. I understand your society doesn't believe in self-resurrection. Don't feel bad, I don't understand it either."

"Amy," Leela replies under a calmed breath, "These people are just this powerful. Death isn't such a big thing for them. These three men, in fact are very powerful demons. Mukuro wasn't just saying that to impress you, nor was she inferring them as evil. These guys are very strong, very powerful, and very dominate fighters. In the last martial arts tournament, in Hiei's realm, he won the title and was voted as king. It means he's a super strong fighter, in fact one of the best."

"Wait, if he's a king, why is here instead of in a palace commanding…?" Amy starts to ask.

"In a grand palace sitting on a throne isn't his thing. Even if it's only for three years, he's not going to sit and do nothing. You've got the wrong man in mind to do that," smirks Leela.

"Right, and that's from only two months of you knowing him," remarks Yusuke, rolling his eyes, "I was there throughout the duration of last year's tournament and I was surprised he desired to win so bad."

"Didn't you fight?" asks Leela.

"Yes. In fact all three of us fought, but Kurama and I had no desire to be kings. I brought Megumi and he brought his two. The major reason really was to train the kids to fight."

"Megumi's getting pretty good too. She's almost as power as you were when you fought and killed Suzaku. And at half the age, is really neat."

"Who's that?" asks Leela, "Suzaku. Is that a demon you yourself fought as a kid?"

"If you want, Leela, you can read my mind later and get the full story," offers Yusuke, "I'm not interested in repeating the story right now."

"I already know what's on your mind. We'll do that today in fact."

"What's going on?" asks Amy, "What's the plan?"

Leela dashes onboard the Planet Express ship and sits at the left console at the nose of the ship and rapidly taps at the keys on the keyboard in front of her. In a flash, a silver, spherical object is launched in a flash and zips at blinding speed through the atmosphere.

"What did you do?" asks Hiei.

"I'm sending a probe to their solar system. I'm still not convinced if it's the Pigs who are lying or if this war is really about Zapp's stupid mission to come out a victor in all of this."

"I know he's a disgusting human, but would he go that far?" asks Yusuke.

"I wouldn't put it past him. Plus he's done this before. A few years ago we had a war on a distant planet and it turned out we were the invading aliens in that conflict. Zapp's the one who caused the war. His only purpose was to come out the victor, and to hell with anyone else, especially the inhabitants of the planet."

"Wait, wasn't that the war with the Ball People?" asks Fry.

"Yes it was."

"So we risked our own asses in that battle and sacrificed our soldiers, just so he could get a stupid purple heart and a hero's salute? That bastard!"

"Did you just figure that out now, Fry?"

"I thought it was King Porso who instigated the fight and wanted to wipe out us humans. He threatened to destroy the city and devour us all. That threat was direct, real, and alarming," reminds Shizuru, "Was I just hearing things when he said that."

"He said the same thing last year. He came with that warning but we chased them off before they could do anything. If he really wanted to destroy Earth, he would have already done so. Normally a planetary enemy wouldn't come right out with a bold statement like that to the nation he wants to concur. Even if he did, he wouldn't have given us enough time to prepare and wait for his attack."

"So you think there's something to this threat, much more than that king was letting on?" asks Yusuke.

"I'm not sure until that probe reaches their planetary system if they are indeed in trouble. I've set it to warp speed, so we should be receiving video and data in a short while. It should be…" Suddenly, she hears a beeping sound from the console and sees a flashing red bulb, blinking continuously.

"Attention to all in this area! Kurama, you might want to get into the ship now. The space probe has arrived at the Pig's planetary system."

"It's there now? That was fast," comments Shizuru.

"That's what space travel is like almost all the time," replies Fry, "It's nothing for something to travel that fast. The ship does the same thing, especially for when we're delivering to planets further away from Earth, like more than two billion light years away. It's lucky for us that both Slurm Planet and Decapod 10 were closer than that to Earth."

"Aw poor Hiei, there are speeds too fast for even you," laughs Kurama.

"Shut up. I have no need to space travel anyways."

"Or ability to," laughs Leela, "You're not a machine so you couldn't do that. That probe is a robot and robots don't require oxygen, don't freeze in absolute zero, and are able to survive in the vacuum of space. You may protest to being called human, but your body structure, components, and composition say otherwise."

"So what's this probe doing?" asks Yusuke, "It's at the planet in question, but…" Leela presses a button on the console in front of her and ejects twelve virtual headgears.


	33. Chapter 33

"Everyone, come to the main deck and grab a headgear," Leela announces.

"And what is this for?" asks Shizuru.

"We're going to visit the planet ourselves, but from the safety of the ship and still on Earth."

"So is this virtual or…" Shizuru starts to say.

"We're going to venture the surface of this planet and see the world for ourselves. If anyone has to go to the bathroom, do it before you put this thing on your face."

"I'm good to go virtual," replies Fry, "I was in the bathroom while you were in the medical tent, Leela."

"Good to know," replies Shizuru, strapping a headgear to her head, "Whoa, is this the planet? It's like I'm there for real."

Leela straps a headgear over her head. "I've been here before. If this is successful for you all, then I was planning to use this with investigating our case with Ryuku. My wrist thing has analyzed the data and created a virtual image of the events surrounding his imprisonment with Notaku."

"I sure hope nobody thinks they have to fight anyone in the virtual world."

"I've got game that lets you do that. We can play after we're done with observing the Space Pig Planet. You can't kill or help anyone in virtual reality."

"Hey girls," greets Yusuke, "What is this place? It looks like Earth but where is the life on this…"

"This is virtual reality at its max. This is how you tour the Internet in this era. What you're looking at now is what the probe is seeing. The probe is recording the images it sees and is reading the gravitational pressures of the planet. In the death of a sun, the gravity is out of control and the sun itself is unstable. We've got this probe in place of us actually being on the planet for real. The machine can withstand the harshness of such environments. If you were there, you'd most likely die the moment you landed on the surface."

"Wow," comments Kurama, after placing the gear over his head, "So this is the planet. Is this really what we're seeing?"

"Most certainly. No wonder the pigs want to leave it so badly."

"Zapp said they caused it. Lrrr said the same thing," replies Amy.

"No, nothing mortal caused this much devastation," sighs Kurama, picking up a leaf in his hand, only to have it disintegrate in his fingers, "This is the planet itself dying." His eyes scour the desert-like landscape, pock-marked with moon-sized craters. "I'm glad Botan isn't seeing this now."

"Not even that dragon of yours could do this?" asks Amy.

"Ryuku was a very powerful dragon, but not even he could do this much damage."

Leela kneels to the rocky ground and sees the rotting carcass of a pig lying on the ground. "I second the notion about Botan not being here either. Poor little guy," Leela places her hand on top of the exposed skull.

"I can tell he hasn't been dead long," sighs Shizuru, looking at Leela.

"I've got a feeling we're going to see more of this further on," replies Leela, sighing deeply, trying not to cry.

"So are we going to explore this…?" Yusuke starts to say, until an enormous squeal blasts from the ravine of a crater, interrupting him, "Is someone out here? Hello? Are you there?"

"Nobody can hear you or see you like this," explains Leela, "All you can do is observe."

"That's just the way virtual reality is," replies Amy, "You can see and talk to us because we're together in the same room. But anyone on that planet can't see you. You don't even exist here."

"Then how was it that Leela could touch that pig's head or Kurama could pick up that leaf?"

"There are sensory devices on the probe that allow you to see things. Then the gear your wearing gives you the sensation of picking something up and lets you feel what it is. It's like you're there but you're really not," explains Amy.

"Why isn't my boyfriend with us?" asks Leela, "Do I have to ask?"

"Hiei opted out. I told him we were just observing this planet and he declined. You can make a dream for him tonight about what you saw. Fry isn't as interested either," informs Kurama.

"It's just as well for Fry. He couldn't do anything here anyways. The information the probe is gathering will be what is brought before DOOP Headquarters," replies Leela.

"If this turns out to be a war started by Zapp, then what?" asks Shizuru.

"Most likely what will happen is the pigs will find a new planetary system. That's their ultimate goal anyways. The king thought by going to war with Earth, he could have the planet for himself. That threat was most likely the last resort. If they are forced to go home to this planet, they'll be finished. That's the true end of their kind."

"So nothing happens to Zapp?" asks Yusuke.

"I don't know if he'll punished or not. Punishing him will just be addressing the symptom, not the overall problem. I hope it ends the war, and they don't fight us anymore."

"Who'll stop the war though?" asks Kurama.

"DOOP has the final say to all planetary matters and decisions," explains Leela, "They'll need solid proof that what the pigs are wanting and this probe is designed to show and record all video images and status data. It will give them an idea as to what's going on and the real reason for the war. President Glab will make her decision and resolve this matter based on all evidence gathered."

The squealing noise continues to echo throughout the entire crater ridge. "I still want to see where that's coming from."

"We can see where it's coming from, but don't be too surprised or disappointed if this is nothing but an echo," Leela sighs.

"She's right, especially in a lifeless place like this," replies Kurama, "It could be an old squeal that's been floating in this unstable environment. It's sad, it's almost like the planet itself is crying while it dies. I don't sense much life energy at all, not even from any plant life."

The group walks down the rocky crater. Leela grabs a dead tree trunk jutting out of the ground surrounded by loose boulders. "Careful," cautions Yusuke.

Leela thanks him and stands beside the tree and peers across the landscape. The basin of the crater houses a dried riverbed. Under one of the boulders, Leela spots the young body of a dead piglet. She investigates around the area where she found the dead baby and discovers a buried cave. Shizuru follows her to the cave and peers inside.

Shizuru sees an entire family of pigs dead inside the cave and falls to her knees. She glances into the decaying eyes of a sow lying on her side. She sees piglets scattered everywhere. "Yusuke, I think this is where the squeal noise is coming from. This cave is keeping the echo going. You're listening to this family's dying squeals." She places her hands on the body of one of the babies and cradles him in her arms. "I'm so sorry help didn't come to you guys. So sorry you had to die this way." Her eyes start to well with tears.

Leela approaches her and rubs her back. "I know I have to hold it together, but I can't help but feel for this family, being a mother myself. They didn't have a chance. These poor guys…why were you being denied help? You didn't deserve a death like this. So alone…so afraid…" Shizuru holds the baby in her arms next to her chest, giving him a hug. Her tears roll down her cheeks and drop on the top of his head. "I'm so sorry."

"What's the matter, dear?" asks Kurama, approaching the cave, "Oh my. What a tragic scene this is. I guess this family ran out of options and chose this spot to die. The mother must have created this tomb for herself and her litter."

"I wouldn't want that to happen to us. I can only imagine her pain, knowing both she and her babies…I couldn't do that to Saito and Sakura. I…can't imagine what running out of hope would be…would be…" Shizuru kisses the piglet's head and places him back on the ground. Tears dribble down her face and soak the ground. "If we had gotten here sooner. If we only knew about this family before they died. I'm so sorry we're too late to do anything for you. I…I wish this never happened to you. You didn't deserve this."

Kurama touches her shoulders and offers her to stand. She wheels around quickly and grieves profusely. She buries her face against her husband's body, clenching his shirt with her fists. "I know. You're a good mother. It hurts to see another family's devastation, and be totally helpless to do anything."

Leela places her hand again on Shizuru's back, trying to sooth her and trying hard not to cry herself. "Maybe it's too late for this family, but the probe is in here recording this. Glab will be certainly be looking at this video. She's a mother herself and this most certainly will strike her heart as well."

"Do you think there are more scenes like this, Leela?"

"It might be global. I wouldn't doubt if we searched around this crater some more, we'd come across more tombs. The majority of this clan would be on the mother ship, but I suspect not everyone was able to go. Perhaps there were so many deaths that the king had enough. He's desperate for his people's survival."

"Are there probes similar to this one here?" Leela nods and leads Kurama to the outside of the cave.

"Do you see those steel-like balls flying through this crater alone?" She points to another blurnsball-sized probe whizzing across the sky above them. He follows the direction of the probe and sees about ten more hovering through the wide canyon. "We aren't the only ones checking out this planet. These are from other DOOP ships like ours. When a war is this obvious, then DOOP looks into the ordeal. I knew something was up the way these guys were fighting."

"I'm so sorry I'm getting your stuff wet like this. I was trying to keep it together," Shizuru sighs.

"I know. It's okay. I understand how awful this is to see this. But with the death of the planet, there'll be more stuff like this. I'm transmuting my thoughts to Hiei now. If you want, you don't have to see anymore. Just take off the headgear."

"I'll be fine," Shizuru mournfully sighs. Leela hugs her, trying to comfort her more.

"How long do you think they've been dead?" asks Kurama.

"If the decay has just started, then they might have just died. The skin is still intact and the body is still in one piece. Of course maybe it's been awhile and since they aren't exposed to the elements, the decay is slower. It's really hard to tell."

"Is this what Armageddon looks like?" asks Shizuru.

"I'm not sure. It varies from one planet to the next. The one I found Nibbler on, Vergon 6, was on the verge of exploding. This one is being affected by the sun's erratic changes and gravity alterations. This is typical of a sun dying. If this sun is threatening to become a black hole, then what we are seeing is this planet is preparing for being drawn into the sun's pull."

"When do you think that would be?" asks Shizuru.

"Again hard to say. It could happen later on this year or take ten years. There is no set time. It depends on what these probes report back. They have accurately sensitive readouts. This one is even picking up seismic activity. We need to move now." Leela dashes out of the cave, followed quickly by Kurama and his wife.

"What's going on?" asks Yusuke, "What happened?"

"There's going to be an earthquake soon," warns Leela, "Amy, we need to leave with this probe to another area."

"I know. Guys, we need to get air borne now and follow this probe."

"Does that mean we fly?"

"This is virtual, so yes. Flying is much easier and safer than walking, especially in this place."

"I thought we were safe anyways. We're still back on Earth, aren't we?" asks Yusuke.

"Yes, we are safe here. Like I said if we were truly there ourselves, we would die. There's very little oxygen here. Whoever remains here now, like that family we just saw, is suffering from affixation, and will succumb to suffocation."

"I noticed there was very little plant life on the surface. I know there used to be a river at one time," comments Kurama.

"You remember that dream you gave me last night, about the control and stoppage of time. The planet here is slowing its rotation. The reason has to do with the sun. The sun controls the rotation. The probe is picking up the sporadic and weird gravitations. This occurrence is causing the atmosphere to dissipate. There is no moisture in the sky. Not even a single cloud. Plants can't survive like that. What vegetation there was has died. Without plants, food and oxygen supplies run out and animal life suffers. This is the end of the world for the pigs. This is what their apocalypse looks like. That's why the king wants to leave here for a new planetary system. If he's forced back here, that's it. Porso is a good king. He's trying to do everything he can for his people. If Earth was suffering like this, wouldn't we try to do the same thing?"

"So he's attacking Earth out of desperation. He wants to be heard and he thinks this is how to do it."

"So what do we do now?" asks Yusuke.

"I thought you wouldn't ask. Take a break first." Leela quickly removes the headgear from her face.

Yusuke removes his headgear and sees himself back on Earth, still on the Planet Express ship. "Wow, that was different."

"Would you believe all that stuff you experienced was happening in real-time?"

"Seriously? Oh my gosh, not even my Eye-Toy is that precise."

"I'm planning to use this for our own research. I'm going back to Mac's Computer shop and get virtual headgear for Spirit World."

"So there's a technology more advanced than what Koenma has?"

"I'm planning to get a monitor like his, if I'm to be working up there, investigating various cases. I need a desktop pc to keep track of the paperwork and logging information. Does he have Internet access?"

"You've really put a lot of thought into this job," chuckles Yusuke, "I don't think he's met someone who's got a business attitude like this. He doesn't even have that attitude. He wants to goof off instead."

"When there's that much work to be done, I'd get busy."

"Just don't burn yourself out, Leela. You've got the luxury of moving around and set hours. Besides, you've got someone waiting on you to come home."

"Yeah," she smiles, twirling her Heraseki-stone necklace with her fingers, "I want to see him on my way home."

"Did Hiei make that for you?" Leela nodded with a glaze across her eye.

"With his own tears too. I've never taken it off since Mukuro's funeral." Leela sits back in her pilot seat and swivels the chair. "Where is he anyways?"

"I think he's back hanging out with Fry and Bender."

"Right, because Bender idolizes him and Fry is envious. Fry's got a new girl, Lisa Nash."

"And yet he's interested in you."

"Yes, but I don't feel the same way for Fry as I used to."

"Because you met Hiei," replies Yusuke.

"That was before what happened with the hover-car time-machine."

"Well aren't you glad it happened? I mean if you didn't come to 21st century Tokyo, I know I wouldn't be seeing all of this."

"So this is about you?"

"Yeah right. Seriously in a million years, I never thought I'd see what space looked like, other than what I see from on the news or from the lens of a telescope."

"Well this should give Keiko something to tell your other teacher friends, and you'll have pictures to prove it."

"Yeah and one hell of a story to tell Grandma. You ought to bring her here sometime."

"There's an idea, and the Professor would be fun for her to talk to. Hey, if she wants to regain her youth, there's a hot tar spa place not too far from here. We took the Professor there once to youth-asize him."

"That might be good for her. Make her young again. But that'll make training much harder on you."

"In any case, are you glad you came to my century?"

"Actually, yes. I like the change of pace. It's not the same old routine anymore. What I had going was a rut. Nothing interesting going on. I thought that'd be how my life would end. But then the time-travel changed that. I'm glad to know you guys. You're a fun group to hang out with."

"You also did Hiei a favor by coming. I've got a feeling someone made that happened."

"You think it was Mukuro who did that? That car did that on its own though."

"You said the car came from our country. Plus as powerful as she is, I wouldn't put it past her to put her voice in the car and override its voice."

"She knew I'd do that? I know I had a dream the night before of some red-haired woman appearing to me from out of nowhere. She said take the gift from the current guy you're with. That was Fry at the time."

"What else do you remember about this woman? Was her hair short and did she wear an eye-patch?"

"And she was the same height as Fry with green fighter pants and a purple top," Leela replies.

"That's her. That's whom you saw in your dream. Mukuro appeared in your dream that night. You did what she asked you."

"She has that power?" asks Leela, "It's like she implanted that idea in my head."

"Didn't the voice of the car sound like hers?"

"So she made me go to your time. She was dying and didn't want him to be alone. And here I thought she didn't love him all the way. She did. Mukuro knew her time was up and she sent for me. But why me?"

"That I don't know. You'll have to ask her."

"So she held out until she knew I was there and was going to be in Hiei's life. She wanted someone to fill in for her, and thought I'd be the person to do that. I love the guy like nothing else. This is the first guy, besides Fry, I've ever felt this way for. Does he know? Did Hiei know Mukuro's true intentions?"

"Maybe he did, or if not you could ask him yourself. I know he's never opened up like this before. He seems much happier now than from when I met him in my teens. For as long as I've known him, this is the first time he's laughed like this. He's freer to laugh, to cry, and to love. Maybe it's because you're in his life."

"Could be…" Leela starts to say before she sees Shizuru pull of her headgear and Kurama follow her. Once again Leela sees tears dripping from Shizuru's eyes, "What happened? Did you see more stuff?"

"We were in this town and found a piglet lying on his stomach in the middle of the street. I picked him up and he was squealing with tears on his face."

"He was alive?" asks Leela.

"But then as soon as I picked him up I saw something expand and he disappeared."

"Most likely the probe rescued him. They are also programmed to do that. Living samples from a dying planetary system are ideal for Glab's investigation. The probes expand and create a housing unit for survivors."

"Then what happens?" asks Kurama.

"Our probe will warp back to Earth with that orphan. It's on its way home right now. These orphans are immediately placed at places like Cookieville Orphanarium and are looked after."

"So even our planet takes care of the kids, despite it being enemies with the planet they come from."

"Policy of DOOP. That's one of their laws."

"You think we could adopt him," wonders Shizuru, "When I picked him up, he was crying. I could tell he was so alone and so scared. He couldn't see me, right? But I just wanted to hold him for as long as I could."

"They can't actually see you, but they can sense you through the probe. To them it feels like an angel is caring for them. He was probably thinking you were an angel. I'm certain you can adopt him. Tell Saito he's got a pig for a brother."

"Two hanyou fox kits and an alien piglet in our home," laughs Kurama, "I guess that'd work."

"I just want to do something for him. I don't want him to be scared." Leela walks over to Shizuru and holds her.

"You'll have him your arms again. For real this time."

Amy pulls the headgear off her head. "The probe is on its way here. It'll return to the ship in a few minutes. So far this little guy was all the probe could find. It was searching for his family, but they were all dead. So now this little guy is coming back here."

"So he truly is alone," Shizuru sighs. Leela notices the glint from the silver ball hurling back to the ship.

Leela leads Shizuru to the probe's entry port and unlatches the door from the inside of the ship. Immediately, the piglet scampers out squealing. Shizuru scoops him up and holds him in her arms. She walks back to the upper deck with the scared baby held next to her shoulder.

"Mama, where's Mama?" he squeals in fright, wrinkling his snout.

"Awe how sad," replies Amy, "She's gone and he's desperate to find her."

"Mama. I wanna see Mama. Where's Mama?" the piglet squeals.

"What's your name, little one?" asks Shizuru.

"Name? Where's Mama?"

"She's with the angels now, little one," Shizuru's eyes well with tears.

"Angels? She's with angels? Mama…Mama…" he squeals, "Are you an angel?"

Shizuru drops to her knees with the piglet in her arms, sobbing while holding him tightly.

Kurama kneels beside his crying wife and touches the top of piglet's head. "Little one, if you don't have a name, we'll give you one."

"A name?" asks the piglet, "Does that mean you want me?"

"Of course, young man. Since we found you still alive, I think the name Koun would do."

"K-Koun?" replies the piglet in a shaky voice.

"It'll be short for Koun-no-buta. That's Japanese for lucky pig," smiles Kurama.

"Koun. Koun Minamino," replies Leela, "You said you wanted another child and he's an orphan who deserves loving parents."

"Would your laws allow us to adopt him just like this?" asks Kurama.

"They do in fact. You could do it as soon as today even. The adoption papers would be drawn up for him instantly. Since he has nobody else to take him, no family, then he could be your son by the end of the day."

"Isn't this international? Whom do we appeal to?"

"President Glab presides over interplanetary matters," informs Amy, "If you become his parents, then it'll appeal more to the plight his people are in. She'll look at this as one planet's citizens adopting from another planet. Since the Pig's planet really is in peril, she will most likely appeal to their needs and allow them to move to their true desired destination. Right now though, go to Judge Whitey."

"Hon, he looks sick," sighs Kurama, "I'll take him to the medical tent for you."

"Sure," Shizuru offers Koun to her husband and proceeds to stand on her own, "You go with him, Koun. He's a medical doctor." Kurama carries the piglet out of the starship, shielding his little eyes from the Earth's healthy sun.

"What do you think Saito and Sakura will say when they see their new little brother?" asks Leela.

"What that he's a pig and not a fox? Hard to say," chuckles Shizuru, "Maybe Saito will think Koun is neat. Maybe he won't object to having a little pig brother."

Hiei approaches the main deck and greets Leela, seeing her sitting at her pilot seat. "I heard squealing noises out here. What's going on?"

"We rescued a little piglet of that planet," sighs Shizuru, "I'm sure glad Botan didn't see all of that. It was such a heartbreaking scene. Death was everywhere."

"I know, Leela was telling me about that. Ryuku couldn't cause that, not even if he wanted to. It would mean his life would suffer as well. So that P.O.W we captured was telling the truth."

"So what's next? There's still a war going on with these guys."

"We'll have to wait for Glab." Leela stands up and walks back to the left console and programs the probe, commanding it to fly off to DOOP headquarters.

"And what about Zapp?" asks Shizuru.

"At this point, making a ruling on the pigs' ordeal comes first. There is a healthy solar system within a couple of light years from here. It's not owned by anyone. If Zapp's the only one standing in their way, she will override his authority and allow them easy access. Keep in mind, Zapp is employed by Glab. In other words, he answers to her. He's been court-martialed by her before."

"Leela, do you want to come outside and get some air?" asks Hiei, looking at her eye.

"Sure," she whispers. She pulls herself from the console seat and follows him outside. Just as her feet hit the grass, he immediately draws her next to him.

"Let it go. You guys saved this little one. It's more than what your main purpose was."

"There was too much death. I can't imagine what would happen if Yuki and Hiro were put in that situation. You were facing death like that when you were young, so alone and so scared. I don't know how Koun survived this. I wouldn't do that to Hiro." Leela bursts into a rage of tears.

"I know. It must have been hard. Usually Shizuru is strong and doesn't cry that often. But seeing her with that baby, and seeing her break like that, I could only imagine what you saw. I wish I were there for you, Leela. But from what you told me in thought, that's the devastation I saw with Ryuku and didn't want to relive it."

"I thought you said he couldn't do that."

"Not to the extent of totally destroying the planet, but he did do damage to the lands of Musashi and ravaged many villages."

"Leela," Shizuru calls out, climbing down the ramp of the ship, "There's something on the monitor above your pilot seat. It's an urgent message."

"Already? From DOOP?"

"There's some woman on there that looks like Kiff."

"That's Glab," replies Leela.

Shizuru sees Keiko walk out of the medical tent. "How's Koun doing?"

"That little piglet? He's doing fine. I think his biggest problem was he was hungry. Kurama determined he hadn't eaten in a couple of days. He's also getting a healthy dose of oxygen."

"So we got to him just in time. The name Koun is really suiting him," sighs Shizuru in relief.

"Physically he's fine. But he's so confused and I don't think it has sunk in yet that he's an orphan. His parents must have died recently," Keiko replies.

"He doesn't have siblings either," informs Amy, as she descends the ship, "I saw his home through the probe before it left. It's as though he was placed outside his house so as not to watch his family die. They were in this house not too far from where he was, but all were dead. All his little brothers and sisters, his mom, his dad, all of his family is gone."

"How long do you think it was before they died?" asks Shizuru.

"Decay hadn't started yet. Their eyes were still in their sockets, so I'd say it was probably this week they died," sighs Amy in a saddened voice, "Koun is so young, probably not even a year old. He's probably unaware his family is dead."

"Poor little guy," sighs Keiko, "I had no idea it was like this."

"I understand where he's coming from," replies Hiei, "It happened to me like that. Orphaned this young, before I even knew better."

"Yeah but you were abandoned and your family is still alive, right?" asks Amy.

"My father is M.I.A and my mother killed herself. My sister is alive but for the longest time, I couldn't even tell her we were siblings."

Leela walks back onboard the ship and sits in her pilot seat. She opens the instant message feed to Glab's office. "I'm here. Sorry it took so long, ma'am."

"I understand, Leela, I was studying the incoming data anyways from Porko 09. From the information you sent me, I understand you have a survivor with you."

"We do, your honor, he's receiving medical treatment now. Two of my friends found him. They're married with kids of their own."

"I see. Is it possible I can speak with them now? Is the survivor well enough for me to see him?"

"Hold on." Leela stands from the seat and dashes down the ramp. "Hey Shizuru, is Koun ready yet? Glab wants to see all three of you."

"Right now? I'll go get them," Shizuru dashes into the tent and retrieves both her husband and the piglet. Leela ushers them into the upper deck of the ship and allows Shizuru to sit with Koun in the pilot seat in front of the monitor.

"Your honor, they're here with the piglet you wanted to see," informs Leela.

"I see them."

"Ma'am, we found this piglet lying on the street in front of his house," informs Shizuru.

"Mama? Is that you, Mama?" Koun squeals, looking at Glab on the screen, "Mama?"

"Koun, she's not your mama," Shizuru replies, holding him.

"I saw the video from inside his home. Poor little piggy," sighs Glab.

"Would it be all right if we adopted him?" asks Shizuru.

"As long as you see him as your son, instead of food. You aren't going to eat him, are you?"

"After what we saw?" Shizuru shakes her head. "Koun needs a home."

"Where did you get a name like that?" asks Glab.

"It's a Japanese word, meaning lucky," informs Kurama, "The name is short for Koun-no-buta, means lucky pig."

"I see, sir."

"Would his people mind if we adopted one of their own?" Kurama asks.

"I won't know that, sir, until I stop the war. And right now I'm still going over all the information and I've got an interplanetary meeting scheduled with Earth's President Marc Seyer and King Porso. It'll be in New New York's time 1700."

"It's 1630 right now. What do you want us to do, Your Honor?" asks Leela.

"Do as you please, as long as you stay on Earth for now."

"Will do. We'll be at the Planet Express building, if and when you need us," assures Leela. Glab nods and shuts off the transmission. "That way, she can contact us on the monitor in the conference room, too."

"Why can't I see Mama?" asks Koun.

"Koun, listen carefully. Can you do that?" asks Kurama. He nods, ushering Koun to nod his head too, "Okay, your mama has gone bye-bye. She's gone to heaven."

"Heaven? What's heaven?" asks Koun.

"Koun, have you ever dreamed before?" asks Shizuru, still holding him in her arms.

"I dreamed where I was in this magical candy land with huge marshmallow clouds."

"Your mama is there now but she's living there now. Your dad and all your brothers and sisters are there too."

"They've gone to live there. They didn't take me? Why not? I want to go too," snorts Koun, with tears trickling down his tiny snout.

"What happened was they died?" explains Kurama, "You know that angel that picked you up and carried you here to Earth. Your mom and dad had angels too, but the angels took them to that place with the clouds instead."

"They…they went to heaven…and l…left…me behind. Mama…I don't understand this…" Koun presses his snout against Shizuru's shoulder, squealing as loud as he can. She holds his head, petting his floppy ears softly with her hand.

"If you'd like to take Koun to my cabin, I'll fly the ship back to the building," offers Leela. "Amy, could you ask if Hiei would like a short lift to the building?"

"It won't take long," Amy shrugs. "Just a quick flight. It'll just be to Planet Express."

"Sure, if Leela requested it."

"Are you going to toss him a Milk-bone, Leela?" chuckles Kurama.

"I heard that. Like hell I'm someone's dog."

"But she asks you to do something and you obey her. She owns you, bud. Might as well start wearing a dog suit."

"Hell no."

"If I bought one for you and asked you to wear one, you'll do it," replies Leela.

"You think so, Missy."

"Yes and you need a collar to go with that dog suit."

"That's it. I'll show you who wears the damn collar."

"Hiei in a dog collar," laughs Yusuke, "That's an interesting idea, Leela. But you forgot the leash."

"No I didn't. I've already got that. He can borrow one of Nibbler's."

"Oh ha-ha, very funny Leela-san."

"Why isn't Keiko on board?" asks Amy.

"I thought she was staying to help Zoidberg. McLark is still in rehab and I know she'll be helping him. Plus we've got more incoming injured soldiers, whom Botan is transporting to the tent," informs Leela.

"How long do you think this war will last?" asks Yusuke.

"It depends what Glab does. You heard her earlier. She's meeting with both planets' leaders, in twenty-five minutes."

"I thought they were evil and the Omicrons said the pigs attacked and killed one of their youngsters," replies Yusuke, with a confused expression on his face.

"While Hiei and I were up there with the tigress Mukuro, I saw Jrrr jump out of their ship, walk over to a nearby bush, and take a leak. Lrrr was lying about their nursery planet being destroyed and must have insisted Ndnd to comply with his statement."

"What about McLark then? Was he lying too?"

"I believe his involvement was commissioned by Zapp. He lied to McLark about having his planet being next on the Space Pigs' list."

"Then the threat of being devoured…"

"Scare tactic by King Porso. It was his way to get us to fight. Sometimes war is used as a tool of communication between planets. In this instance, Porso wants us to know his citizens need a new home solar system. Violent communication is his last resort. You saw the shape Porko 09 was in, Yusuke. If you were the leader of a place like that, wouldn't you try to do was Porso is doing? You said you averted an Armageddon fourteen years ago in your time, but I doubt you had the constant threat of the sun collapsing. If what would have happen did, wouldn't life still continue?"

"We had the threat of demons crossing over in masses and devour the humans of this world."

"But say that happened. Even after the destruction of human life by demons, would all life cease on Earth? The Earth would still exist and other organisms might be spared. Are there demons willing to devour everything? Plants and animals too?"

"If they were let loose to do as they please…"

"That happens now with the Kikai Barrier down. But lets say they would overrun Japan and devour humans, would the ecosystem itself die too or would it still exist?" asks Leela.

"So what does my preventing the apocalypse and this one…?"

"This one has no more ecosystem. It's all gone," sighs Kurama, "It's like we were looking at the aftermath of a volcano eruption or what the dinosaurs must have experienced when the asteroid hit the Gulf of Mexico. Total destruction. Mass extinction. One massive global death where nothing is spared. Life that can't exist anymore, and there's nothing anyone did to cause it or prevent it. This is the true end of the world. Not even King Yama could go this far. I know he threatens to do this, but he doesn't have the heart to." He looks at Leela, trying to blink tears out of his eyes. "That's what Koun's family was facing. His family, his friends, his fellow citizens, all facing mass extinction. If we didn't get to Koun when we did, he wouldn't have made it. He'd be like that baby Shizuru picked up in the tomb. This is why his name suits him." Tears drip down Kurama's face. "I just feel sorry for these guys."

Leela parks the ship back in the Planet Express' hanger and saunters over to Kurama, embracing him immediately. "Koun is safe though, because of you. He'll have a home now."

"If we didn't come to this century. If we left on Shizuru's birthday, as originally planned…if we never met you…"

"But you did," replies Leela, "and you saved this little pig's life. Glab has the video of what you did for him. She'll definitely show His Highness what you, an Earthican, did for one of his own kind."

"Shouldn't we head to the conference room?" suggests Amy, "The meeting's about to start. Fry and Bender are already in the room."

"Sure," sighs Leela. She releases her embrace and walks back towards her cabin. "Shizuru and Koun, we're about to watch Glab's meeting with King Porso and President Seyer. You'll definitely need to catch this."

"We'll be out shortly." Leela waits beside her cabin door.

Shizuru walks back out, carrying Koun with her. "Sorry if I made you wait. I noticed you had a private washroom in here and he needed to use it."

"So he's potty-trained," smiles Leela, "His mother must have taught him that."

"But he's not even a year old? At least that's what Amy thinks."

"He's a pig. His kind learns stuff quickly."

"Do they get fat?" asks Shizuru.

"No, these guys aren't like what you think a farm pig is here. If you had to compare them to Earth pigs, they're like peccaries from the Amazon. The Space Pigs grow to about Hiei's height and get as fat as a peccary."

"So basically Koun will be like a human-sized peccary. I noticed his arms and legs bend like ours. So they've evolved to feature human-like characteristics."

"You'll notice the hooves on his hands are evolved to grasp onto things. The nubs on the back of his hands will be like thumbs. When he gets older, Koun with be able to grab and write with a pencil, dress himself, and do things we humans take for granted."

"So we'll be able to send him to school," suggests Shizuru.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he gets placed in advanced courses. These pigs are smart, sometimes even smarter than us humans."

"I noticed the way he talked so fluently, even before his first birthday. Takes us humans to about three or four years in age, until we start making sense."

Leela walks with Shizuru and Koun up the steps to the conference area. The giant monitor blares Glab and the two leaders. "Sorry if we're late," apologizes Shizuru, "This little guy needed a can."

"No need to apologize, ma'am," smiles Glab, "I've got tadpoles of my own and I know how that is."

"Besides, our young have such small bladders as it is," grunts the king, "I too have a litter of my own." He looks at the piglet in Shizuru's arms. "As I understand it, you found him on our streets."

"We were searching with the probe…" Kurama starts to explain, "I don't think I was prepared to see that."

"So you've seen my planet, sir. Then you should know why it's like that. Lrrr was lying when he said we caused it."

Kurama shakes his head. "Nothing mortal causes that. We saw first hand what…I'm sorry, but may I leave this room? I'm old-fashioned and…it doesn't feel proper to cry in front of you, good sir." He stands up and walks from the table into the lounge.

'Are you going to be all right?' Leela asks him in thought.

'Just let me be for awhile.'

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but we saw your planet and both he and Shizuru are taking this hard," explains Leela.

"Your probe shows me one of the gravesites. I knew that family too. Her husband is in battle right now. She was going to wait for him until this war was over. But as you saw, they didn't make it."

"So you wanted to change planetary systems?" asks Marc Seyer, "So why did you attack ours?"

"Because you humans wouldn't budge. Zapp told me himself we couldn't get the unused system next to yours. He cited it as Branaggan's Law #0-54836B8."

"You know he makes up those laws just to get his way," Leela informs, "He's making things difficult for you on purpose. He's a war monger."

"I showed him pictures of our home and he said we caused it and…"

"As smart as you claim to be," sighs Hiei, "I can't believe you can't see past this asshole's lie. You know very well you didn't cause that. My best friend wouldn't be in the next room, crying his eyes out, if this was a hoax. He's not one to be conned into anything. His wife, sitting here, holding one of your babies isn't a fool either."

"If it's okay with you, sir, can we adopt him?" asks Shizuru in a low saddened voice, "We've even named him Koun."

"That's an interesting name. Where did you get that from?" asks the king.

"Koun means lucky in Japanese. His full name is Koun-no-buta. It means lucky pig."

"To be rescued by kind Earthicans like you, he certainly is lucky. You won't eat him, will you? I know you Earthicans eat pigs."

"Just the fat, pink farm pigs. Pork is what I serve to my other two kids, but no I won't kill Koun. I don't even think of him as a pig either. To me, he's a lost and orphaned little boy who needs a good home and parents to care for him. He just looks like a pig."

"Does your husband feel the same way?" asks Porso.

"He does. He wants to take him in as his son. We have another son and a daughter back home. We want to raise Koun like he was one of our kids." Shizuru shows her wristband to Porso and displayed their holographs to him.

"Why do they have ears and tails like that? Are those wolf features?"

"Not wolf, fox. These two have demon fox in them because my husband is like that in true form."

"A fox? Sort of strange, lady. Still, I've seen Glurmo and that queen of his close up."

"Do you drink Slurm?" asks Fry.

"Not me. Some of my friends do, but I don't drink that stuff. I don't drink anything coming out of that worm queen's ass."

"Do you think we can adopt Koun?" asks Shizuru.

"Mama, is it suppertime yet?" asks Koun, in his sleep, "Oh boy, chicken burgers!"

"Yes, chicken burgers, they're almost ready," Shizuru lies with tears in her voice.

"You can take him to McDrake's after the meeting," whispers Leela, "They serve great chicken burgers. There's a McDrake's a block from here."

"You have my blessings, woman."

"I guess we'll have to change the choice of meat."

"You won't have to, ma'am," replies Porso, "What century are you from?"

"Twenty-first, sire. We time-traveled with Leela in her car. We're also from Japan."

"I figured you were, when you mentioned our pink, Earth predecessors. The Earthican farm pig has nothing to do with us. We didn't even evolve from them. Our ancestors were closer relatives of the peccary from what you used to call the Amazon."

"That's what Leela said. Still I feel bad about eating…especially in front of him. What if we go back to that temple? They serve po…"

"Shizuru, that's a different type of pig. These guys aren't even from Earth. They never existed here. They are a true alien race of people from an entirely different solar system where the culture and its people are pigs. The king is trying to say they just look like peccaries. But they aren't Earth-related, they never were."

"Leela's right," confirms Glab, "Earth pigs are nothing like these people from the Porko's planetary system. Shizuru, ma'am, he was trying to say you don't have to stop eating pork, just don't confuse Koun and think he's the same as the pork you eat."

"We eat Earth pig too. It may sound cannibalistic, but we too enjoy the favor," assures Porso. "We don't even taste the same. Your pigs are sweet, fat, and meaty. We Porko inhabitants are way too gamy and taste terrible."

"This is the same thing Arbu was talking about, when he said he raises pink-flesh zombies. To him, like most man-eaters, find the zombies tastier than even the fattest human in Tokyo. Both are similar in appearance, but not in anything else. His Highness is saying that about his people vs. what you know pigs to be. Though physical appearance is similar, that's all there is. Their intelligence is super-advanced, they've got human-like bone and joint structures in their arms and legs, and tasks we accomplish with our hands, they do the same with their adapted hooves. It's like you're looking at a human with a pig's appearance. You don't do the mud-thing, right?"

"Sometimes we do, but it's not like we sleep in it or do our business in mud."

"So you aren't filthy like what I've seen on a farm. You are more like us."

"It'd be the same as thinking just because Kurama is a fox demon, it doesn't mean he's going to act like a wild fox and kill a rabbit for dinner," replies Leela, "Nor does he have any desire to raid a chicken coop. Does he do that stuff as Yoko, Hiei?"

"No, I've never seen him act like a stereotypical fox."

"Same thing would apply to Koun, Shizuru," Leela continues to explain, "Like you said earlier, he was a lost, little, orphan boy you found on the streets and rescued from certain death. He just happens to look like a pig."

"So what's next?" asks Fry, "We're still at war, aren't we?"

"Yes," replies Glab, "but with all the incoming data from Porko 09 and this meeting here, I'm leaning towards calling a ceasefire and ending this war. We had this war last year, but I don't think I was fully aware of their situation. Now I'm certain there's something that must be done. The only option you have, Porso, is to move your people to that solar system next to Earth's. Going back would mean the end for you, and I wouldn't want that for my kind either. You have my blessing to move to the new Porko system. I'll go ahead and override Branaggan's decision to block you."

"Thank you, Your Honor. We will accept your allowance as our gift. When we establish a new home in the new Porko 09-1, you'll be invited to feast at the palace."

"I'll hold you to that, Porso," chuckles Glab.

"So what's next, Glab?" asks President Seyer.

"What's next is for you and Porso to make your addressing statements to the nations you administer to. Then I'll get on air and address my ceasefire statement."

"Do we have to be hear for this?" asks Yusuke.

"Since you're foreigners to this era and you already know my decision, then you're all dismissed. Same goes for you, Planet Express employees."

"Thank you," yawns Leela, 'Are you okay in there, Kurama?'

'Yeah, I'm feeling better. Botan's in here and I've been watching the news. Says there's some kind of bulletin for the 6:00 hour?'

'Glab's going address both nations and end this war. She's giving Porso and his people the go-ahead and let them move to the new planetary system.'

'What about Koun?'

'Since the king knows you are going to adopt him instead of eating him, he's okayed you having him.'

'Now what?'

'Next thing is to take him to see Judge Whitey and make it official. Since I know you've had it and his office is closed, you can take him by in the morning. In the meantime, there's a McDrake's a block from Planet Express. He says he's hungry for chicken burgers and they serve that in a kids' meal.'

'You mean hamburger?'

"There are no hamburgers. Cows have been extinct for 200 years. Buggalo take the place of cows."

"Are you serious?" laughs Shizuru, "That's the last animal I'd suspect to have bitten the dust, especially only within the last thousand years."

"You'd be surprised how many plants and animals are extinct from your era."

"Don't feel bad, Shizuru, I've been awake from cryogenics for seven years and I'm still not used to things here," replies Fry.


	34. Chapter 34

Leela sighs while looking at Koun. Hiei saunters up to her and wraps his arm around her. "Are you all right? I know I shouldn't ask after what you saw on their old planet and seeing this poor piglet suddenly all alone in his life."

"I just know the pain of being orphaned and I know what he's going through. I know you know the pain too. Maybe if we got to the planet sooner. I'm psychic, right? I should have seen this before it was too late. Maybe his family would still be alive. Why didn't…"

"Leela, stop this what-if stuff. I know you wanted to save them, but how could you know everything? Not even Genkai can see everything, and she's been a psychic all her life. But Leela, if it wasn't for your smarts and instincts to see beyond what this war was, and go to his planet in the first place, Koun wouldn't be alive. Even if all you did was allow Kurama and Shizuru to search the planet and find him, that's more than enough. Leela, because of you, this piglet was found. He will have a new home and a new life."

He insists her to kneel and embraces her. "Leela, have I failed to tell you what an incredible woman you are? You are a brave selfless woman who puts others needs before your own. Because of you, you've allowed the higher-ups to end this senseless war. I know this will save a great deal of the pigs' soldiers' lives, as well as those fighting to defend Earth. You saw through all the lies some of the superiors were giving off, including that Lrrr guy and Zapp. I don't know if Glab will see you as a hero or not, but to me you are."

"Thank you. Hearing you call me that feel more meaningful than hearing it from her. I've been thinking about the stuff I got for Hiro, maybe Koun should have them instead."

"Hiro has enough things as it is. Plus he's not alone. He's staying with his little cousin, Yuki and with sis and moron taking care of them. I think giving that stuff to Koun would be great for him."

"We'll need to stop by the supermarket too. If what the king says is true, he may need leak-protection underpants for kids."

"Diapers you mean?"

"No that's for babies. Koun is about the size of a three-year-old child, and he's potty-trained. But you know how it is when you're young and some parts of your body aren't fully developed yet."

"I get it. I've experienced that with both Yusuke's kids and Kurama's. I've woken up to 'Mama, I had an accident' and it was back in the cave."

"So, what's you're plan? I know you've got something on your mind, I can read it as clear as day," replies Leela.

"I know you can. Makes things hard to surprise you with something. I was going to ask if you want to go out tonight, just the two of us. No kids, let those two worry about Koun. They're experienced. It'll be just us."

"Should I call my car?"

"Up to you. We could also fly. How about just that? I don't see any battle ships flying everywhere."

"Yeah, especially if Glab is conducting peace talks. All the fire fights have ceased," Leela replies, gazing out the lounge area's window. "You want to go to McDrake's. They've got incredible buggalo burgers served with Wong style bar-be-que sauce."

"Amy's family makes bar-be-que sauce for commercial use?"

"Why do you think they're on Mars? They own the only ranch that raises buggalo and sells them for meat. That's how they're so rich."

"You're going there to check on Koun, aren't you?"

"Of course not," Leela replies, crossing her arms, "I'm going to eat there with you and that's it. I will not interfere with anyone. We'll just eat and leave."

"Leela," Hiei chuckles, "You think you're the only one to read someone's mind. It's okay, Koun might not be as intimidated if he sees your face there."

"Well I could still give the car to Kurama tonight, especially if they want to do something for Koun. Besides it'll give us the freedom to fly around the city. We could even ride a tube to Ellis Island and see Lady Liberty."

"Promise me you won't meddle."

"I'm not going to that. Don't you trust me? Since when have I meddled?"

"Just making sure."

"Hey if it'll make you feel better, we'll go to Crusty Joe's and eat fish instead. We can have buggalo some other day."

"Naw, McDrake's is fine. If we don't go to where I know you want to go, you'll be torn too much and not eat anything. Please just erase the meddling idea from your mind."

"How do I do that? How do I clear my mind? Do you know how to do that?"

Still kneeling on the floor, Hiei looks at her. He holds her hand gently and begins kissing her loose fist. "Maybe I can help you erase your mind."

"What did you have in mind? I promise I'll try not to read it."

"What if we had sweets before dinner?"

"Here, in the lounge?" Leela asks seductively.

"Well not all the way, of course, but there's nobody in here so we can just…" she interrupts his words with a smooth kiss. 'That's what I was thinking, Leela. And you said you wouldn't read my mind.'

'Deal with it, mister, because I couldn't help it.' Leela continues to kiss him, 'If you have to blame anyone, blame Koenma for opening that channel.'

'Naw, I'll be too busy making love with you to do that.'

As they continue kissing, Leela starts hearing Keiko's voice drift through the docking bay door, followed by Zoidberg's. "As I was saying, I've been in Japan my whole life. I was born there."

"I went to Japan once. But it was for a conference for mad scientists."

"I heard in your time, the U.S has added Japan as a territory."

"Yeah, but you still have your traditions. The whole planet is owned by the US and Japan is part of it."

Leela sighs, "Don't we ever get a break."

"With one of your friends chatting it up with the wife of one of mine, doubt it."

"Oh, Leela and Hiei, sorry I didn't know you were in here."

"We weren't doing anything, Keiko," laughs Leela, "Nothing serious anyways. What do you need?"

"I've misplaced my other half. I thought he was in here."

"We were all in the conference room earlier, but I think he was heading to McDrake's. That's where the Minaminos are with that piglet boy. You want to follow us there, it's just a block from here."

"I don't want to ruin your…uh… 'plans here'."

"They aren't ruined," laughs Leela, "Can't make love anyways, it was breakfast since I ate anything and this old man here…"

"Hey, that wasn't nice," Hiei pretends to protest, "But you're right, this old lion is hungry."

"I thought you were a dragon."

"Leela, you wouldn't want to know the roar of a dragon's empty belly. That'd be earthquake mode, like an 8-pointer."

"Is that right? So how about we feed the dragon so that doesn't happen?"

"I thought I got that on sweets." Leela stands on her own and offers him a hand up off the floor.

"You should know that sweets do nothing to satisfy hunger."

"Hate to butt in, but Leela's right. Sorry, couldn't help myself," laughs Keiko.

"That's okay. You can have candy tonight. You own that 'Pez Dispenser'."

"Sometimes he gives me chocolate."

"You go, girl," smirks Leela.

All three walk out of the building and head towards the crosswalk heading left. "Why isn't Zoidberg with us?" asks Hiei.

"He said he had to put stuff away in his office, and he wanted to check on Mr. Farnsworth," shrugs Keiko, "So where is this McDonald's at?"

"It's McDrake's," corrects Leela, "The restaurant's mascot is a large white duck with a red jumpsuit. Wobble McDrake is the owner of the places."

The three cross the street and turn right at the first intersection. Keiko spots a large white building with a red mansard roof. "That's the place, looks no different than back home."

"And yet you have some poor schmo wearing a stupid duck costume…" Hiei starts to grumble.

"Hey, pal," interrupts the six-foot white duck standing in front of the door, "How dare you call me stupid! You don't even know me."

"That's not a costume, Hiei. That's actually is McDrake himself. Sorry McDrake," replies Leela, "My friends here have never been to your place."

"It's what I get from moving to Earth. I was ordered to work so I open one of these human eateries."

"They are called restaurants, Mr. McDrake," sighs Leela, rubbing her forehead, "Can't you even remember that? Restaurants, not human eateries."

"Have you been open long?" asks Keiko.

"Have I, uh…?"

"It's Leela, sir. You really need to work on your memory."

"How bad is his memory?" asks Keiko.

"He makes Hector seem better. You've been on Earth for five years, McDrake. You and your wife opened this place right after that."

"How good is her memory?"

"Delores…?"

"Sharon, Mr. McDrake," interrupts Leela, "She manages the place. She's got a great memory. Wobble stands out here and greets customers. He hasn't the wits for anything else."

"I've noticed that," sighs Hiei.

The three walk inside and approach an open booth. Keiko tries to find the front counter. "What are you looking for? There are no front counters in this place. The menus are on the tables." Leela pushes a button on the wall next to them. Immediately a holographic menu appears in front of them. "Now all you have to do is select what you want." Leela taps the screen for buggalo burgers. "Do you want cheese and super evolved lettuce leaf?"

"Buggalo burgers? What's that?" asks Keiko.

"They're huge. Maybe split it in thirds. You're not going to eat a whole buggalo."

"Just how big are buggalo burgers?" asks Hiei. Leela sizes a holograph to actual size and shows it fill the whole table. "Okay that's big."

"Yeah, I'm getting fat just looking at it," sighs Keiko, "Is there a smaller size?"

"Juniors are a fourth this size. You want feelers on the side."

"Feelers, don't you mean fries?"

"No, potatoes aren't a favorite anymore. Feelers are good though. Don't worry, they're hairless. The cooks here run the feelers through a zapper."

"So we'll have a junior buggalo burger with feelers," sighs Keiko.

"Cheese? I thought cows were extinct. That's what you told Shizuru."

"It's buggalo cheese. It'll taste the same. Majority of buggalo taste the same as cows. There's just hardly any fat to them."

"So what's there to drink?" asks Hiei.

"Slurm, orange Slurm, soylent cola, Gleezo, Peps fly…"

"Beer, wine coolers, motor oil? At a fast food place?" asks Keiko in disgust.

"That's for robot customers. You're looking at their menu."

"Oh okay. Now I see. I'm surprised they've got orange Slurm already. Didn't we give those worms those berries just the other day?"

"Yes and the queen cloned them and is already eating them."

"Hey darling," chimes Yusuke, approaching the table, "When did you three show up? Just now?"

"Sort of," sighs Keiko, "I've been reading this weird menu."

"I know. I've been reading it, too. What weird food items! Are some of these even edible? Green amoeba, mouse poppers, chicken-flavored alien brains, veggie-jello with ogden sauce, fried oil pies…soylent brisket, who'd eat that?"

"The McDrakes' serve all sorts of customers from various planets. Earthicans aren't just it. Don't take soylent cola, by the way. Both that and soylent brisket are for man-eaters."

"Are chicken burgers just that?"

"They are. Chickens are still around. But the burger is ground chicken. It's a kid taste."

"Yeah that piglet is here eating it. I think Kurama's eating it because it sounds normal."

"We're splitting a buggalo burger with feelers on the side. Buggalo taste just like beef, and they are just as harmless."

"Isn't a buggalo…?" Yusuke starts to ask.

"Giant beetles the Wongs raise on their ranch on Mars. They're very tasty. It won't kill you to try buggalo. Taste is like bar-be-que beef. If you want a taste of buggalo, we're splitting an order and this booth can seat one more."

"I guess it can't hurt. Maybe it's even better than some of our crazy foods. You've had to suck down Japanese treats."

"Yusuke, you know very well there are American stores in Tokyo. I didn't have to eat your food, I wanted to. I like what you guys have anyways."

"Would you eat puffer fish?"

"Except that one, I'm not eating that. I don't want to risk dying from that, especially not when I'll just be starting my new job with Spirit World. That would look really bad on a resume."

"The ogres eat it, you know. They'll bet you to try it."

"Screw the ogres. If they die, they'll still have job security and still be working. I highly doubt Koenma would have his men dead for long anyways."

Leela notices Fry across the room talking to a green-haired girl sitting next to him. "You say you were in the war too. How come I never saw you?"

"It's because I was your enemy," she replies.

"My enemy?" asks Fry, "But you're human, not a pig."

"It's true, I'm originally from Earth just like you. However I've lived on their planet for four years. I fully understand why the pigs wanted this war."

"Why though? Is it because of us?"

"I wish Zapp Branaggan had lived there too, then maybe he would have sympathized with us, I mean Porso's people." The green-haired woman stares at her 32oz Slurm, seeing her reflection in the soda. "If you were in their situation, wouldn't you do the same?" She tries to stifle her urge to cry, and slurps her soda. She glances at Koun sitting a couple rows from herself and Fry. "I know him. Him and his family."

"Koun? How do you know him? My ex-lover Leela and her friends found him orphaned on the planet, in front of his house."

"Leela, you say? Then you must be Fry. I know because you delivered supplies to Porko 09 two years ago."

"Yeah and I saw you there. You were the only human there. But back then you also didn't have this eye patch. What's up with that?"

"I got shot in the head by an arrow. A race of alien wolves showed up and demanded entire planetary sacrifices. We battled with them and blew up their mother ship. However one of the wolves shot me in the eye with an arrow and completely ruptured it. Now I have nothing left of it."

"You can clone yourself a new eye. We have the technology now."

"I know that, Fry, but this patch is also a constant reminder of the tragedy that continues on Porko 09. Those wolves only added fuel to the fire. The planet was already in the first stages of Armageddon when they attacked it."

"But you came last year and attacked Earth."

"Because you guys won't listen. What were supposed to do? Those pigs needed a new home. Last year would have been ideal. But no, you Earthicans don't listen and put on this arrogant act like you're superior to everyone else in the galaxy."

"So how do you know Koun?" asks Fry, changing the subject.

"I lived next door to them. I'd talk to his mother all the time. What a gossip queen she was. I still don't understand why her son is here. He's not Koun by the way. His name is Ariaco Hamparo. He was born just last year in Earthican November."

"Ariaco?" Kurama asks, overhearing the conversation, "When we asked his name, he didn't know. He was pleased to be called Koun."

"I would suspect he was so traumatized by all that's happened to him in these last 24-hours that he forgot his own name," replies the woman, "I know what it means anyways."

"It's a Japanese word."

"I know, I'm originally from Japan myself. Heir to a very powerful dragon actually."

"Ryuku?" asks Kurama, "We came here to learn how to destroy him. But then you won't exist."

"Ryuku's lineage extends back to 2000 years. One of his sons, Ryunamaru transformed himself into a human and married the princess, Taki. Those two are my branch of the Ryuku family line."

"I've heard of humans having demonic or dragon ancestors. In fact, the guy sitting across from Leela-san has demon blood in him and yet he's human."

"What about the man next to Leela?"

"He's a demon too. So am I."

"I see. Yet you know my ancestral grandfather and want to kill him."

"I've seen his terrible actions back in the Feudal Era myself. So has Hiei, who is the name of the man sitting next to Leela-san."

"And you've come here to destroy Ryuku, but he's already sealed up."

"Leela brought us here from the 21st century in her time-machine car. We're training to defeat him in our era."

"Okay. But then you just get stuck in this war."

"Yes but this war is more than what we bargained for. I've been in wars and witnessed many others. But one where the sole purpose was to prevent a mass extinction and total annihilation of an ecosystem…"

"Yes, don't have to tell me. I was there and witnessed the extinctions. That's why Porso was so desperate. He had enough of his people dying. So he gathered what remained into the mother ship and was desperate to find a new home in the new Porko planetary system."

"Glab is letting them on by. We were there in the meeting with her and the leaders of each planet."

"I know. She held a broadcast and I caught all of it in my ship."

"Ms. Kokoro," chimes Ariaco, running up to her. He leaps up on her lap and tries to hug her.

"Did you miss me? I've only been gone since yesterday."

"Momma wants to tell you a secret when you go home. I'll bet it's about me, right?"

"Koun…I mean Ariaco, it's too late for that," sighs Shizuru, "Whatever it was…she's gone baby. I'm sorry. When we found him, his family was…"

"We think his family shooed him outside…" Kurama starts to explain.

"They wouldn't do that. Ariaco usually walks outside on his own. Most of the time he plays in front of both our houses. His little brothers and sisters are out there with him. On several occasions, his mother has scolded him and his brothers because they stand there with their pants down and urinate in the street. It's not because they're poor, it's just they're boys and they like to create little games with it, like how far can they aim their pee."

"We'll certainly curb him from that behavior. We've got a son like that too," sighs Kurama, "I know he does that with his buddies sometimes, but I tell him real men don't do stuff like that. It's so uncool."

"By we…you mean."

"We're adopting him. We've got Porso's approval."

"So it really is true. Amiaca and Poro really are dead. I should have known when I left for Earth last night that was the last time I would see them again. I've lived beside them all this time. But now Ariaco is all that's left. Everyone else…his brothers…his sisters…Amiaca. It was just yesterday, but…I…will you excuse me…" Ms. Kokoro bolts from her table and races towards the Ladies room. Fry follows close behind her and grabs a hold of her just before she enters. Kokoro grasps onto his shirt and sobs as hard as she can. Fry embraces her, trying to console her.

Leela watches Fry embrace the woman. Leela sighs while looking at her portion of buggalo. "If I only knew more about this family, if only we got there in time, then none of this would be an issue."

Hiei rubs her hand. "I know you want to save anyone and everyone you can. It's okay. We saved his life at least. I know it hurts, and Ariaco will be hurting the most. But that was all you could do was save him. In a way you did save him family. His immediate family is gone, but because of your intuitions and heart, Ariaco and his fellow citizens are going to a new home."

Keiko reaches across the table and tries to sooth Leela. "It's okay. I know what's it's like to be in your shoes. You're a good person. I know with this new job, you'll be doing that everyday. You kill and destroy any demon trying to inflict harm on the innocent."

"You're the one who saw through this war for what it really was. Sometimes I can't even do that. It's almost like you've got hindsight better than some demons," comments Yusuke.

"Don't look at me when you say 'some demons', bonehead!"

"Could you see this battle for what it was, Hiei? You just kill first and ask later."

Leela glances back over at Ms. Kokoro. "I know that woman. A year before the first war with Porso's people, Fry, Bender, and I delivered ten crates of food and medical supplies. She lived on Porko 09. Name is…" Leela tries to remember the name, "Oh yeah, Captain Kokoro. Supreme Captain Fiery Kokoro."

"Did you say Kokoro?" asks Hiei, "I know that name. I used to know a Ryunamaru Kokoro. He's the son of Ryuku, though he used to profoundly distant himself from his father. Kokoro was even a general in Mukuro's army, specifically targeting his own father."

"So Ryuku's own son was against him. I'd doubt it sit well with Ryuku to have his own offspring become a turncoat," shrugs Leela, "So what happened with Ryunamaru?"

"He's with the border guard. You saw him, Leela, back in May in fact. You remember there was a man sitting next to Chuu, on his left with long green hair, at Genkai's place. He didn't say anything."

"I remember him sitting there listening in on all our input," recalls Leela, "It looked like he want to say something, but it was like what was on his mind was already said. He looked to be as tall as Chuu but was as slender as Kurama, muscle-wise. He had green-piercing eyes and long flowing hair."

"That was Ryunamaru Kokoro."

"So how old is he?" asks Leela.

"In our time, he's 1000 years old. But like Kurama, he prefers the human form. He also detests the human-hunting business."

"I do remember seeing him again at Mukuro's wake and the next day at her funeral," recalls Leela, "At the funeral, he was standing on the opposite side of the pyre from us. I don't know why he didn't accompany us in the city, the night of the wake though."

"He stayed back incase any demons attacked wake goers."

"That was good," replies Keiko, "Because I lack your eyes to see invisible threats. My spirit energy is almost nonexistent, and I'm spiritually blind to danger."

"And I'm nervous whenever Yukina's in Demon World. I know she can take care of herself, but when Yuki and Hiro are with her, I feel uneasy when she's alone. There are so many malevolent apparitions that would take advantage of her, if they were given the chance to."

"Do you think Ryunamaru has the strength to rise up again to help defeat his old man again?"

"When he's released then yes. He despises his father. He used to love him, but when Ryuku tarnished his family's name and disowned Ryunamaru for appearing human and marrying one, then that's where the hatred started. Ryuku went so far as to eat one of Ryunamaru's own half-dragon children. When that happened Ryunamaru separated himself from Ryuku and never forgave him."

"I can't imagine what hating ones own father is like," sighs Leela.

"I can't either," replies Yusuke, "I know I'd get pissed at Raizen, but never really hated him. I envy him, and at times feel sorry he died the way he did."

"At least you knew your father. I never knew mine."

"Isn't that him on your arm?" asks Leela, "or at least his likeness."

"I'm not sure. No I don't…"

"You sound unsure of yourself. When you transformed in my dream, you looked like Ryuku. Is it possible your father was a dragon?"

"Leela, I'm a demon not a dragon."

"But you are a fire apparition, not just a demon. And you're able to call upon the dragon and now you transform into one."

"That comes from training. I had to train my body to transform like that. Earlier I had to summon the dragon. I know what you're thinking Leela. I'm not related to Ryuku. Just like there is a deep rift between humans and demons, there's another between demons and dragons. Dragons have almost unlimited power and take more than one person to tackle. We may have to ask for Ryunamaru for help in our own war against Ryuku."

Leela excuses herself and stands up from the table. She walks briskly by Fiery towards the ladies' room. She glances at Fiery with a sympathetic look in her eye. Fiery makes motions to leave Fry's embrace. "I'm sorry, but the Slurm has gone through me." Immediately, she follows Leela into the restroom.

"I'm surprised to see you here," replies Leela, " I didn't know you were in the war, Fiery."

"I was opposing you guys. I know it's treasonous of me…but…"

"I saw the planet myself. I understand what it was like. Even two years ago, I thought something had to be done. We had room on the Planet Express ship. We could have moved you somewhere safer than that. I'm so sorry Earth acted too late."

"Don't apologize, Leela. I know you tried to do everything you could, you still do. I'm not angry with you. It's Zapp who bugs me. He never listens to anyone, to the point of forcing a whole planet to stay and face the apocalypse alone."

"They're going to the new planet, though."

"Porso had been to conference for ten years with Glab. He wanted to save all his people. I've only been on the planet for these last four years, and even back then I knew they had to move. I saw my own neighborhood becoming a graveyard. Ariaco and his family were right next-door, and Amiaca was such a good neighbor. But I know the secret she wanted to share with me was to make sure her son lived on. Adopt him if you want."

"That's what my friends, the Minaminos, want to do. Kurama and his wife Shizuru have two kids already and are prepared to adopt him."

"Leela the reason why is he's healthy. His family was sick from the lack of moisture and death of the ecosystem. They must have allowed him go outside so he wouldn't see them all die. Amiaca said she bought a bottle of quick-kill pills from the pharmacy in town. They chose to die and avoid even more agony. I just wish…no I'm not going over this again. I didn't come in here just for talking about it. I spoke the truth to Fry." Fiery heads straight into a stall and closes the door. Immediately she sits down. "Oh yeah! If we talked further, I would have peed on the floor."

"Well I didn't drink that much," laughs Leela, "I came in here to think." Leela quickly senses Shizuru heading towards the door. "Hey, there you are. I thought I sensed you. Where's…"

"Men's room. That piglet is a handful. Polite but he loves to play game."

"I know," replies Fiery from behind the stall door, "Ariaco is like that. He and his brothers love to play the 'Aim your piss' game. You need to watch that."

"Don't worry, we got our ways to break that stupid habit. Our son does that too. What we do is make him clean it up himself. And if he continues it, no friends."

"And what else do you do to Saito…?" pressures Leela.

"Make him sit like a girl. That's the ultimate thing too, especially with this all macho-phase he's in. Fiery, is it, my son is the stereotypical boy. He's the G I Joe-Ninja Turtle-He-Man boy. Hard core, or thinks he is. Last fall, for Halloween, he wanted to dress up like Optimus Prime. He saved his allowance and Kurama brought him to the costume shop at the mall and let him buy the costume."

"I've seen Transformer costumes in my time," replies Leela, as she walks through another open stall, "At Halloween time at Macy's, they are sold in the Toy Department. But even now they are so expensive." Leela sits on the toilet and pees. "I know you have costumes for other holidays in Japan and those tags are all marked up."

"Bless those of us with bigger paychecks, I guess," sighs Shizuru.

"We had bigger paychecks, but never did that," laughs Fiery. She stands up and lets the automatic flush kick in. "My goodness, I think I filled this bowl."

"Yeah, you've been sitting there awhile. Just how much did you have to drink?"

"Two helpings of Slurm. About sixty-four ounces in total."

"No wonder then," replies Leela, "I don't even drink that much. I ordered tea with my meal, but I only had sixteen ounces."

"Yeah but sixty-four is my norm."

"If I did that, I'd be fat as a pumpkin," replies Shizuru, "I didn't even drink that much tea both times when I was pregnant. I had enough with the unborn kid in the way."

Leela sighs, "I know you say I have it easy with adopting Hiro, but regardless, I want to go through this too. One day I want to be the one carrying Hiei's baby, giving birth to this daughter Koenma wishes to have reincarnated as our own. It'll be strange to work up there and get to know her before having her."

"That'd be one advantage you alone will have. What mother gets that chance, to know the spirit of their child before the body is even formed?"

"You can do that, Leela? How is that? Are you working for Heaven?"

"Fiery, I've changed since you last saw me," Leela explains as she rises to her feet, "One reason I saw through this war is we captured a POW and I was able to read his thoughts. We wouldn't even have Ariaco here and alive if I didn't peer into the pig's mind. We wouldn't have even thought to search the planet with the probe from my ship if I didn't see his visions."

"Leela's able to read thoughts, fight with spirit energy, and fly because one of my and my husband's friends opened up her spiritual channels. Koenma's very good at doing that for people. He did this fourteen years ago in our era to one of Kurama's best friends."

"Someone else is like Leela?"

"Did you see me sitting there with a brunette woman and two black-haired men? The guy with the short hair is the one Shizuru is talking about."

"The one sitting by the brunette," replies Fiery, "I saw him while Fry and I were talking. He didn't look anything special. I've seen guys like him. I'm originally from…where are you from?"

"Japan. Twenty-first century Tokyo, Japan, is where we're all from."

"Yeah and you would have remained there if I didn't crash in my time-machine. While you were finding Ariaco, I was talking to Yusuke. I didn't tell anybody else this, but the night before I crashed, Mukuro appeared in my dream. She basically told me to take the car and she'll handle the rest."

"So she took over your car's voice and told it to disobey you. Sounds like a Mukuro move. Usually when she wants you to do something, you do it, like it or not. So I take it you haven't told Hiei your dream then."

"I didn't know what time was appropriate. He's still trying to get over her death, even though she introduced herself this morning in front of the Nimbus. Still I don't know if that was enough. I will eventually know, maybe tonight."

"Who's Hiei?" asks Fiery.

"He's the guy you saw sitting beside Leela," explains Shizuru, "He's a twenty-first centurion just like the rest of us and Leela's new boyfriend. This was the person Leela first met in Demon World's forest. I was surprised how you weren't afraid of him back in May, but now by us coming here and seeing his alien double, I understand why you weren't scared."

"You mean McLark?" asks Fiery.

"If you stood Hiei and McLark Trilo in front of each other, you'd think you had a mirror between them," replies Leela, as she stands up and walks out of the stall. "Hey Shizuru, where do you think Botan is? I haven't seen her all day."

"Is she another friend of yours from Japan?" asks Fiery.

"Yes and I don't know. She might be flying around the city. There are still injured victims, despite the war being over. Or she's flying for the heck of it. She's never been to New York City before. Not in our era and definitely not in yours."

"So is she in a space craft?" asks Fiery.

"No, Botan flies naturally on her own," explains Leela, "She rides on an oar that she herself materializes using her own spirit energy. She's been doing that for 700 years or more."

"So what are your plans tonight, Leela?"

"I'm giving you and Kurama the car tonight. He knows how to pilot it. Plus you can spend time with Ariaco, especially since this will be his first night orphaned and on a strange new planet. Near the apartment, there's a twenty-four hour Kwiki Mart. You can get stuff for him. I figured you could handle that."

"His king says their young have small bladders so we'll see if there are overnights here. Sakura wears overnights too, because she has a tendency to wet the bed."

"They've got kid-sized diapers. Nibbler wears those."

"So if we have the car, what will you and Hiei do then?"

"I'm thinking about taking him into the sewers tonight. I want to introduce him to my parents."

"Is that far?" asks Shizuru.

"Their house is right under Planet Express. Besides we can fly through the sewers."

"Will that leave Keiko and Yusuke at a disadvantage?"

"Not in the least," laughs Leela, "He told me that they were touring the city. They want to try the space tubes. I told them if they wanted, they could go to the New New York Opera House. That's where 'All My Circuits' is being performed. There are also new exhibits at the Head Museum. The entire cast of 'Scrubs' has been unfrozen."

"Which did they pick, or did they pick at all?"

"Yusuke was unsure about either place, until I mentioned Calculon was the main actor. I know he hasn't seen a robot actor before, especially not Calculon, so they're going to his show."

Leela sighs and heads out of the restroom and walks back to her table. She sees the menu displayed across the table. Hiei sits alone, studying the display. "Trying to get something else, babe?" she smirks.

"No, I was reading out of…this menu is all over the map. It's got things here I didn't know was food, or what it was. Toad burgers, fried leg of horse, French fried human rods, frog ala king, tacos with fried soylent green, crispy human fingers. The man-eaters back in Mukuro City have this sort of menu."

"That's for the man-eating aliens," replies Leela, "You're reading their menu." Leela taps a toggle button for Earthican customers. "That's the menu for us. Chicken burgers, buggalo brisket, miniature squab salad, Calamari gumbo…this is the menu most appealing to humans. The signature item is the Grand Chicken. That has two chicken patties, two slices of buggalo cheese, buggalo bacon, lettuce, tomato slice, and Wong-styled barbecue sauce."

"Is it good?"

"I've had it. It's wonderful, especially after a long delivery run." Leela sighs and looks at him, "So are you done with this thing?" She taps the panel on the wall next to them and turns the menu off. "So do you have plans tonight?"

"Not really. Yusuke and Keiko already left for that robot show. Your friend, Bender, insisted to tag along."

"He does that, especially if it's Calculon," chuckles Leela, "If you haven't got any plans, the sewers are always open for visitors. I was thinking about introducing you to mom and dad. It's been awhile since I've seen them."

Hiei shrugs and pulls himself away from the table. He escorts Leela past the main entrance. He gazes at the street in front of him from the sidewalk. "Call me stupid for asking, but how do we get in the sewers?"

Leela points to a manhole cover in the middle of the street. "These are the entrances to the sewers. The sewers run all over the city, well under it. Years ago it used to be dark underground, but because of what Bender did, who dumped neon toxic waste down there, there's an abundant source of light from the sewer lake."

Leela leads him to the manhole cover in the street. She bends down and pries the cover off. "Amazing, this thing used to be so heavy for me. I had to use a crowbar just to visit my parents."

"Must be all that training with old woman, Genkai, is paying off," Hiei smirks, stating the obvious.

"That and the spirit energy your friend helped me reach."

"Koenma isn't really my friend, but yeah."

"Now that's surprising you would say that. I thought you were personal friends with the guy. Certainly appears that way to me. You don't even get pissed off at him. You even suggested I get the spirit tap from him."

"I'm not saying I hate the guy, but just not…never mind. You're the one who'll be seeing him everyday for work. I would pay money to see how you handle the ogres. I wish I were there the other day when you were in his office with Kurama."

"Well how about on my first day, you come up with me? We could even do lunch up there. I'll order it and you pick it up."

"You want me to go through some drive-thru."

"Hiei, you know very well I'm the only one in your era with robotic devices. Besides it's Spirit World. You expect some human delivery boy would even get up there?" Leela finally pries the cover off and reveals the Sewer Lake. "Ugh how many times must I ask Raoul to fix this ladder? He's the supreme leader, but he's also a big time procrastinator."

"We can fly down, can't we? It doesn't look that far down."

"Yeah," Leela sighs, "Well that would be faster. I was sort of hoping not having to fly so the buggalo can settle." Leela leaps off the ladder and soars towards the lake, followed close behind by Hiei.

"So this is what the sewers look like. I was expecting something small, but this is huge."

"This is where the decaying ruins of Old New York resides. We aren't actually there, but we're not too far from it. We'll be going through there anyways to get back to the apartment. We are living directly above the old city." Leela lands in front of the lake. Immediately she sees a short woman with a pig snout and gills looking at her.

"Leela, it's you," snorts Vyolet, as she draws a hit from her cigarette, "How did you fly like that?"

"I've been training with a new martial arts technique."

"So what's with the sudden visit?"

"I'm just here to see my parents. Are they available?"

"Morris and Munda? Yeah. Morris and Raoul were fishing here earlier today, but all that commotion on the surface was scaring the fish. Sounded like you guys had another war."

"We did, but Glab has called a ceasefire now." Leela watches her lover fly towards the lake. "Dear, please don't land in the water. You'll be mutated immediately."

Hiei changes course and lands next to Leela. "How would I be mutated? I'm not even mortal."

"It doesn't matter. If you even wade in there, you'll come out not even looking human."

"Who is he?" asks Vyolet, "New boyfriend?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," chimes Leela, "His name is Hiei."

"He's a cutie. He's even better looking than Fry. Can I have him when you're done with him?"

"First of all, you're married to Raoul. Second, I'm not leaving this guy; he's for keeps. And third, I found him first."

"So you're together with him forever. That's not like you, Leela, to be attached to a guy like that. For how long?" Vyolet asks, as she draws a puff from her cigarette.

"Two months."

"Two whole months? You've been steady for that long? Wow that's neat," replies Vyolet, "The only other person you've been that way towards was Fry. But wasn't on-again off-again?"

"Yeah. I just don't feel the same way about him any more."

"You told me last September, and then again in February of this year. You looked like you wanted to break up but didn't seem to know just how to do that."

"So you were planning to break up with Fry before crashing into my era?"

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't sure how. My feelings were changing before I met you. I didn't want to hurt you, but I…please don't think I was using your century to runaway. I was told to go there in a dream."

"By whom?"

"I never told you this but Mukuro appeared in my dreams the night before I left. She had been doing that for a couple of weeks. She didn't even say come to the era, just said take the gift from your current lover and she'd do the rest. I told this dream to Yusuke earlier."

"I should have known. I was so blinded by grief over the motions of losing her. But that'd be something she'd do. She knew she was dying but she wanted someone to come and fill the void. Someone with a pure heart who knows nothing about darkness or torture. But of all the people from the thousands of years of searching and from any continent, she chose you. Maybe she knew you wanted an out, that's why she summoned you."

"Could that be why she picked me over Fry?"

"I've been talking to him. I've got the feeling he's happy here. This was the era he was meant to exist in. He seems at home here."

Leela sighs, "Yeah it's just like how I feel about Tokyo in the 21st century. I don't feel constrained and I love hanging out with you and your friends."

Vyolet pitches her cigarette and wanders back towards the cardboard housing complex. "That was my last cigarette, at least for awhile."

"Why's that?" asks Leela, "You're quitting?"

"Just for…I got back the test results from the doctors, and…"

"You and Raoul are expecting?"

"That's the other reason why his fishing trip was lousy. He was in a daze out on the lake. He was…"

"I know the feeling," sighs Hiei, "I'm a father too. I've got an infant son at home. I was in a daze too when Mukuro told me she was pregnant."

"Who's this Mukuro person?" asks Vyolet.

"She was the woman I thought I was going to share the rest of my…"

"Hiei, you don't have to tell her everything. That's the woman who died on him. She's alive again inside a tiger's body now."

"I get it. I understand. Sorry about that, mister. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No need…uh…Vyolet-san."

Leela, Vyolet, and Hiei round the corner of the narrow stretch of metal sidewalk and head in the direction of the Turongas' makeshift house. "Aren't you coming inside?" asks Hiei.

"Naw, my house is further down from this one. I was out strolling here, trying to clear my head. I'm just as buzzed about the whole new parent thing as Raoul is."

Leela knocks on the door flap. "I guess I'll see you later. Congrats to the both of you."

Vyolet waves goodbye and strolls past the house. Leela knocks her fist on the door flap again. "Are you guys home?"

"Morris, who's that? Go see who it is," utters Munda.

"Mom, it's me," Leela replies through the door.

"Oh! Munda, it's Leela. She's come back through again." He opens the flap and greets his daughter with a hug.

"Dad, how have you been?"

"Great, dear. Did you hear Raoul's wife is expecting?"

"We were outside with her just now."

"Who's this handsome young man you've got with you?" asks Munda, "Morris, let our daughter inside." Morris escorts the young couple into the house and offers them a seat on the stiff-cushioned couch.

"Mom, Dad, part of the reason for my visit is to introduce him. This is Jaganshi Hiei. He's the guy in my life now."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jay…gun…how do say that?" asks Morris.

"It's Japanese, sir. Just call me Hiei. Nobody calls me by my full name."

"So you met him in Japan?" asks Munda, "Where exactly?"

"Tokyo. Twenty-first century Tokyo. I had a time-machine mishap and ended up stuck in the first part of the twenty-first century. It happened two months ago."

"Neat. So that's where you're from. So what's that like? What do you do there? Do you pull automocars?"

"Mom, the twenty-first century isn't what we on the surface make it out to be. There's barely any difference in the two eras. The only thing is it's mostly manual. You have to physically do stuff."

"Is it hard to do?" asks Morris.

"Not really, well at first it was…"

"Leela, admit it. You forgot what century you were in when you tried making coffee the first week after Mukuro's death. You put the cup under the machine and asked it to produce coffee. You didn't know you were supposed to put in a filter and fill it with ground coffee beans. I watched you stand there getting pissed off at the stupid thing."

"What did you expect? I've grown up in this era and robots do things for you. Robots prepared that dinner we had. That's why we got our order so fast."

"So what do you do, Hiei was it?" asks Morris.

"I'm a border guard for Demon World. My job is to keep wandering humans out of Demon World and kill any pests trying to hunt and eat their human prey. That's what I was doing when I met Leela. I thought she was just another stranded human across the border. Then she told me her 'border' was here in the thirty-first century in New York City. Thousand years in the future is way out of my league. I was pleased she flew herself to Mukuro City to the tower. Usually my underlings and I have to stun the human and carry him to the tower to erase his memory. Most humans are afraid of the supernatural and are chicken shit of demons. This girl of yours, Leela-san, isn't like that. She wasn't at all scared."

"Ha, what can anyone do there that can frighten me? If they try to kill me, I'll strike back with Spirit Bombs and destroy them first."

"Besides you've got the advantage of reading someone's mind. That's why scaring you or surprising you is difficult now."

"And it keeps you out of trouble. I'm not having you kill any of my friends. No way. Threaten Botan all you want, but you're not killing her."

"Who's that? Friend of yours?" asks Morris.

"She's my best friend. Botan is also visiting this era, but is really from his. We've also got two more couples here too."

"One of them will have a young child with them on their way home."

"You're adopting a child from this era?" asks Munda.

"Not me, my best friend and his wife have a young alien child staying with them."

"Ariaco is that Porko-09 orphan they rescued."

"I heard about Porko 09," sighs Munda, "Their old planet is doomed. Raoul held a conference in the sewers about that. We feel saddened by their predicament. I'm glad Glab is allowing safe and easy passage for King Porso's people. She also said she wants you to go to the DOOP Headquarters tomorrow for a major conference. She wants to meet the Earthican couple wishing to adopt one of Porko-09's own kind."

"What else can you tell us, young man?" asks Morris, "I'm sure working a border isn't the only thing."

"I've got a three month-old son. My sister is helping me take care of him. Yukina and Kuwabara also have a daughter, named Yuki, a month younger than him."

"So you've got a son. What's his name?"

"Hiro. Mukuro and I have Hiro, well I do."

Leela wraps her arms around Hiei and rubs his back. "It'll take time."

"What's the matter with him, Leela?" asks Munda.

"Mukuro is one of reasons I was in his era. Just a couple days after I arrived there, she passed on. Her soul is still here, in a tiger's body. But, back there…she's gone."

"So sorry, sir. Didn't know you were in that kind of pain," replies Munda, "I know what that's like. My favorite aunt passed on not too long ago. I'm still grieving for her."

"You mean great aunt Marietta. I loved her. When did she die?" asks Leela.

"In May on the 10th. She had been sick for such a long time."

"I knew back in February, when I visited you, she didn't have long to go. If I only knew she died when I was in the 21st century…but the stupid flux capacitor broke. Does she have a grave at least?"

"It's in Old New York in the old Central Park," sighs Munda.

"That's on the way to the apartment on the surface," informs Leela, "New Central Park is where we were this morning. Under the surface are the decaying ruins of the old park."

"I thought it was Monument Park."

"That's the nickname we give it. Those monuments used to be on the beach in New Jersey, but alien pranksters were always attacking them. So the monuments were moved to New Central Park, then the park was dubbed Monument Park."

"Is it far from here? That war of yours was okay for me, but this whole day has worn me out."

"Yeah, besides we've got a busy day tomorrow. Aside from meeting with Glab face-to-face, we've got to get the virtual headgear for our tour through the Feudal Era. I've got the video all set up. I want to see this dragon first hand for real. Just showing me a dream about him isn't enough."

"You've got a dragon to worry about?" asks Munda in a bewildered tone.

"At the moment he's dormant inside a shrine behind the temple I spirit train at. But someone is trying to free him. He's got an undead monk trapped with him, and the monk is just as evil and scary as the dragon, maybe worse. Hiei showed me a dream where I saw this man. So much for his humanity, he was a monster in his own right. Notaku scared me more than Ryuku."

"What's he like?" asks Munda.

"He's a cannibal, which is a serious offense for a Buddhist monk, especially in the Feudal Era," Leela explains, "Back then the ultimate punishment was Obligatory Seppuku, which is a government-assisted suicide. If the shogun gave you that punishment, not only would you be forced to kill yourself, but also your entire family would suffer. The head of the household would be stripped of his land, children would be sold as slaves, and any women would be forced to work in brothels the rest of their lives."

"Oh my," gasps Munda, "What a harsh time. Will you experiencing that dear?"

"Not really. We aren't physically going to the 1500's. We are merely observing it. I want to see what our friends and us are up against if Ryuku wakes up."

"Well I know you can handle it, dear," assures Morris, "You're a brave woman with a good head on her shoulders."

"Don't count me out," replies Hiei, "I'm preparing to fight this monster too. Leela-san won't be alone. My friends will also assist in defeating him."

"You should see these people attack an enemy, Dad. One of our friends is able to point his index finger and fire it like it was a real gun. Weirdest thing I've seen. He says he's been doing that for fourteen years ever since he got the ability as a kid."

"You can do that too, Leela. Your way though is to materialize bombs and create that lance."

"Spirit Bombs are just as effective as that Spirit Gun he has. Besides the bombs make up for my lack of depth perception. If I need pinpoint accuracy, drawing a proton gun from my belt is my solution. It only taking a few nanoseconds to prep that."

"I thought you were weaning yourself off the gun. Isn't the old woman teaching you to do that?"

"I'm not completely done with using a real gun. Genkai knows of my problem with depth perception. Give me a break; I'm still brand new at Spirit fighting. Why do you think the sparring matches are as short as they are? I'm trying to fight like that, but it's not easy. You've had 700 years to perfect your style, Kurama and Ashanti had a millennium to perfect their style, and I know O'Falla is the same age as Kurama and Ashanti and she's a master fighter. I'm a newbie in this mixture of warriors."

"Wow more friends of yours? How old did you say you were, young man?" asks Morris.

"Morris, it's not polite to ask a person's age," Munda scolds.

"That only applies to you women. Men don't have that rule."

"It's all right, Lady Turonga. I'm really 754 years old."

"How is it you live for that long? Leela, didn't you mention another fellow that age? No human, and certainly no mutant lives that long," replies Morris.

"He's right. Aunt Marietta lived to be only 160."

"I'm not mortal. Demons outlive humans by several centuries or millennia. Old age hardly kills a demon. I'll eventually get old, but that won't be for several more millennia."

"Demons die by other means than age alone. If you are stronger than your demonic opponent, your power will take him out. Demons can even starve from certain nutrients, especially if the 'nutrients' happen to be human," explains Leela.

"Slow poisoning on top of afterbirth does that too. That's how my Mukuro died. As strong as she was, it took bearing Hiro and that slow poisoning by Seiichi's group to…"

"Hiei, don't. Can we change the subject, please? Her death is still hard and very tender. It's not like Great Aunt Marietta, whose time was up. This Mukuro was his first true love and she promised she would stay with him and end his loneliness. She held her promise for ten years and even bore him a son. But then she died a month after Hiro's birth. Even though she's transferred to a new body, he can't forget her. At nights I've slept beside him because he cried for her. I've promised not to leave him either. I'm not going to die, I can't."

"So you've got him in your future plans. Are you going to marry him?" asks Munda in a dreamy voice.

"Yes and adopt Hiro. I'm taking care of him already."

"Can we see him?" asks Munda. Leela flips on her wristband and brings up his holograph, "Aw, he's so cute. I can see why you want to make him your son, Leela." Tears form in Munda's eye, "Oh I feel like a grandma."

"After we're done with Ryuku, we'll come back here and introduce you to him for real. You'll get to do all the new grandma stuff you want. Hiro's got the cutest giggle too."

"New grandma. Oh Morris, our baby will have a baby of her own."

"I'm not pregnant though."

"Details, details. What does that matter? When he says 'Mama', he'll direct the word at you, Leela," assures Hiei.

"I know. I'm still new at that idea, even more than the spirit energy stuff. That and the job I have waiting back for me in Tokyo."

"You've got a new job?" asks Morris.

"It's not in Tokyo, really, but yeah. As soon as we travel back, I'll be working for the same man who helped me channel spirit energy. Koenma's my new boss. I'll be working up in Spirit World every day. My title will be Spirit Lieutenant."

"Where is this Spirit World place?" asks Munda.

"Heaven, Mom. But I won't be dead. Not everybody who goes up there is dead. There's an entire office staffed with ogres and ferrymen. Botan is one of the ferry-people."

"She's a fairy?" asks Morris.

"Ferry, dear, not fairy," corrects Munda, "Ferrymen are folks who lead you across the River Styx after you die."

"Right, but I won't be dead. I'm just working for the man in charge."

"Actually, Leela, the man in charge is King Yama. You'll be working for his son. When you get your paycheck, it'll have Yama's seal stamped on it."

"Will it be cashable? What bank will believe where I work?"

"There are banks in Mukuro City. That's where Mukuro's money is. If you want to put it in Tokyo, ask Yama yourself. He's got a stamp for making it appear legit. He's got money in all three worlds. It's the same yen Human World residents get."

"Yeah and you're still living off Mukuro's money."

"It's not her money anymore. Tigers, especially brand-new cubs, have no use for money. She wasn't about to have the Human Japanese government get their grubby mitts on all her yen and gold. That's why she gave it to us."

"How much money?" asks Morris.

"Again with the rude questions," scolds Munda, "You don't ask people how much they have. It's their business, not yours. For all we know, Leela might be well off with half a million in her pocket."

"More like a billion. Plus you've got to count that as Japanese yen, not American dollars," corrects Leela, "And that would be 10 million by equivalents."

"You're rich and still want to work for Koenma."

"Hiei, I don't work for money alone, I love working. Besides I want to put the money Mukuro gave us to good use. Like making a home for Hiro and us outside of Tokyo. I want to buy the land required and build it like the old garden in our dream. I want to build a house and make it look aged, like it had been there for a hundred years."

"So you want that. No mansion, no rich life, but live for real in the dream you gave me."

"Hiei, I wouldn't last ten minutes in a mansion full of squeaky floors and crap I can't touch. What kind of a life is that for Hiro anyways? Children love fun and making him live in a museum doesn't interest me. Besides I want to have our friends over with their kids. I want a place for Hiro and Yuki to play. And someday I want that little girl Koenma has in Spirit World to live with us. I want to have her."

"What little girl?" asks Munda.

"Mom, there's a soul of a little girl who died prematurely. She barely had a chance at life and Koenma wants to have her reincarnated in a new body. I want to help the child out by providing her a new body. I'm really interested in creating the new body with Hiei."

"So you really are determined to stay with him," sighs Munda, "You were never this determined with Fry. And never with other men. But it's this man sitting here tonight that has you loving him truly, and not just infatuated with him."

"It's true, Mom. I really love him. I love everything about him, including his flaws."

"That's wonderful, dear," Munda chimes.

"Yes and now I can tell Raoul that he's not the only one with a baby in his life. And I've got the advantage of already knowing my own grandson," boasts Morris.

"Just don't upstage him, Morris. You know how he gets when you do that."

"Can't wait until he gets a little older so I can take the boy fishing," ponders Morris with a dreamy look in his eye.

"You'd take Hiro fishing?" ask Hiei.

"Son, that's what grandparents are supposed to do," explains Morris, "It's your job to raise the child and it's ours to spoil him."

"And Dad, you can even go outside with him in twenty-first century. People there aren't even bothered by mutants. We look like demons to most humans. There are even some teenagers who think my one eye is awesome."

"Which ones? You mean…?"

"I'm taking Japanese as a second language from the school Yusuke teaches at and Keiko is the principal of. Lately, I've seen students in the hallways with needless uses for eye patches. A group of young girls have even dyed their hair purple. I've even heard murmurs from behind the doors of the Teacher's Lounge like 'I wish I had her natural looks' or 'How did she do that to her face? I want to look like that too.'"

"Is that right?" smirks Munda, "If you're popular there, then I guess we'd be that way as well."

"Yeah, so I really can take my grandson fishing, like what a real grandpa should do."

"Yes and I can bake both of you cookies or brownies after you get back. And…and when Leela gets pregnant and has that little girl, why I can knit her little booties, and make her little pink dresses. I also want to make little blue overalls for Hiro."

"Don't get carried away, Mom," laughs Leela.

"Wow so this is what being a kid is like. I wish I had that. The fire demon that impregnated my mom disappeared from her life. Giving birth to a son in that village was a serious crime. Mom suffered for it by the village elders. I was cast aside, literally into the cold, cruel world. She killed herself as a result. For hundreds of years I had nobody. I had an extra eye implanted in my forehead to keep track of the village. After a while I learned I had a twin sister, but because of the surgery, I wasn't allowed to see her or let her know who I was. Then ten years ago, in my era, I found Mukuro, or rather she found me. She described her childhood was equally as bitter. Then last year she became pregnant. I had the idea of marrying her. I thought it would be the most perfect thing. But…"

"Oh Hiei, we had no idea," sighs Munda, "So sorry you had to go through that."

"If you'd like, I can simulate a childhood for you. I'll do it tonight in our dreams," promises Leela, "We can play as children. We can even look like children."

"You'd do that f…for me. Thank you," Hiei replies with tears in his voice. He presses his fingers over his eyes, trying to wipe away tears. "Leela is it all right if we head back. I'm not interested in crying in front of your folks here."

"It's okay, son," reassures Munda, "With such a painful existence you've had, every once in a while a good cry is all you need."

'I'll ask Hina to come,' thinks Leela. Leela closes her eye and immediately sees an icy village. She spots an older woman dressed in a white kimono. Leela approaches the woman and asks her to call upon Hina.

'As you wish, ma'am. Who's it for?'

'Tell her that her son needs her.'

'Hina's son? I know that child. Wait a few seconds.' The woman quickly disappears into the village.

Leela stands in the path to the living world. Immediately she spots a woman approaching her, looking very similar to Yukina.

'You're Leela. I know my son's in love with you.' Hina confirms, bowing to her.

'If you could stay awhile, tonight I'm planning to simulate a deserving childhood for him.'

'You want me in it. I don't have anything else to do. Sure. I can be there tonight.'

Hiei closes his eyes and sees Hina standing in front of him. She kneels in front of him in a materialized ghost form.

"Morris, are you seeing this?" whispers Munda, "Leela has conjured up this ghost."

"I've not conjured her," replies Leela, still with her eye closed, "I just asked her to come here. I invited her here. Talking to the dead is what a telepath can do. I've got the ability to read minds and talk to spirits."

Leela sees Hiei as a small boy clinging to his mother. He tries to mouth Mama but barely has the strength to even move his lips.

Just as Hina wraps her arms around him, Munda does the same with her tentacle arms and wraps them around his physical body. "Precious son, I'm here for you," Munda whispers in Hina's voice.

Morris looks at his wife with curiosity in his eye. "So are you Munda or someone else?"

"Dad, the spirit of Hina has entered her body," informs Leela, "This is how the dead reach those of us in the living world. They temporarily occupy the body of the closest person. In this case, Mom was open and suitable enough to channel Hina."

Leela rubs Hiei's back. She sees his child-like face buried in his mother's kimono. Hina kisses her son's cheeks, as tears stream from his eyes.

'Leela, I've been watching over you. It pleases me how well you're taking care of my son, even though you've only known him for this short time.'

'Hina, I understand he's been through such a horrible life. I want to make up for those lost years and fill his remaining years with happiness. He deserves that at least.'

'I see, my dear. I have faith in you.'

'But I'm not very good…'

'Leela, I know about other men you've been with, even Fry. But they weren't for you. You're willing to share your happiness with my son. I know you wish to be mother to my grandson. You have my blessings, child. To be wife to Hiei and mother to Hiro, I'll be honored for such a thing. I want to call you daughter-in-law.'

'Mama, do you have to go?' asks Hiei, between his child-like and his adult voices, with tear-soaked words.

'Pumpkin, I've spent as much time as I can in this woman's body. However her own spirit wants to return. We'll meet again as Leela promised in that dream she wants to create for you.'

Munda lets go of Hiei's body and returns him to Leela's arms. "When have I ever broken a promise to you?" whispers Leela into his ears.

Munda shakes her head and blinks her eye. "Are you okay?" asks Morris.

"I think so. What was that Leela?"

"It's called a possession. Hina took over your body. That's how the dead connect to people in the living world. The day of Mukuro's funeral, she possessed my body to reach out to him. Since the ability for telepathy is an inherited trait, and Hina was able to successfully possess you, than you have the gift too, Mom. However one of the drawbacks is it's temporary. If you are possessed for any length of time, it drains your body's energy and makes the dead soul unstable."

"Now that you mentioned the energy drain, I'm feeling tired."

"We'll just get out of here and take a space tube to the apartment. We can tour Old New York some other day."

"I'll be all right," assures Hiei, trying to stifle his own tears, "I'm starting to feel better."

"Are you sure?" asks Leela, "You don't look okay."

"I know but I feel better. The idea of having Mama join us as we play and make ourselves look like little kids, makes me even more excited about sleeping next you tonight. She missed out on raising me and it'll be a nice treat for her to simulate the experience. She can play the role, even just for this one night."

Leela smiles and embraces him in her arms. She doesn't say and words and clears her mind of any lingering thoughts.


	35. Chapter 35

"Thank you, Leela. I think we should get out of your folks' hair." Hiei stands from the sofa. He bows to her parents, "Thank you for having me in your house."

"Glad to have met you, Mr. Hiei," Morris holds out his hand.

"Remember what country you're in. This is America," whispers Leela.

"Oh right. I've been living in Japan for so long. Turonga-sama," Hiei grasps Morris' hand with his own, "Your culture shakes hands."

"I was the same way when I met Genkai that first day," smiles Leela, "I forgot what country I was in. Bowing is the Japanese custom for greeting people."

"Your other greeting was coming close to blowing someone's head off with your gun."

"That's because my indicator had mistaken Kuwabara for an intruder. He scared me."

"I've known the idiot for too long and he does that to me. If wasn't for the fact he loves and protects my sister, I would have done away with him a long time ago."

"No you wouldn't. You're all talk in the killing-your-friends department."

"Well, I guess we'll see you two later," shrugs Munda.

"You'll see more of us, can I assure you of that. We'll take care of that evil dragon and his undead friend." Leela hugs her mother, "After we destroy them, we'll come back here. I want to take you to the twenty-first century and let you see the outside world."

"Will the people there accept us?" asks Morris.

"If most Tokyo residents can put up with my odd looks, then yes. You might even meet people your age."

"You two look enough like demons, and there are pockets of decent-natured demons living and working in the Human World," explains Hiei, "My best friend, Kurama lives in the Human World and works as a doctor at a local hospital. He looks like a normal man, but is really a fox demon. He can even transform into his former appearance, a creature with fox ears and four tails. His twin brother Ashanti works in the Human World too, and has a girlfriend there. He's in demon form all the time. O'Falla works to protect the border and she frequents Tokyo. She's got the ears, antlers, tail, and feet of a deer."

"If those weird looking folks can live and work in the human society, then so can you," reassures Leela.

"Will you be able to kill this dragon?" wonders Munda.

"Lady Turonga, we've got enough power and backup power from our friends."

"Mom, these new friends of mine, including Hiei…"

"And you, don't forget."

"Right well, we've got enough telekinetic energy to light an entire neighborhood for several months straight. Some individuals can even keep an entire small city lit with their energy."

Leela slowly backs out of her parents' house with Hiei escorting her. "Are you too tired, dear?" Leela asks.

"I think I'm refreshed actually. Seeing Mother tonight was totally unexpected. I love these impulses of yours."

"You want to walk or fly?"

"What do you mean, dear?" asks Munda. Leela leaps swiftly into the air and lands just above the surface of the flowing channel of neon-green sewer water.

"How are you doing that?" asks Morris.

"That's what she means by flying. She's learned to do that since her spirit-energy channeling. Anything her feet touch, even the skin of that water, become like a flat-structured surface to her. Leela-san isn't even standing on the water; she's just on the skin itself."

"How thin can the surface be?" asks Morris.

"She's able to hold herself in mid-air and use the air itself like something to land on. I do that somewhat, but we've got a friend who's mastered the art of flight and standing in air."

"Jin, you mean," Leela replies.

"That's the one. I can't even figure the guy out. He speaks with this fake Irish accent, despite the fact he's never been to Ireland. He's a hundred percent Japanese."

"Shall we fly now?" chimes Leela, "Or are you planning to spend the night in the sewers?" Leela jets off across the flow of the channel.

"I'll make you pay for that, Missy," Hiei smirks, zipping towards her.

"Whatever you do, don't actually touch this water, or you'll be changed," warns Leela.

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, Zapp Branaggan would beat you in the Mr. Universe Pageant."

"Ah hell no. I'm not going to be upstaged by Mr. Self-important."

"Then don't go swimming in this water." Leela replies, as she waves to Raoul, who stands on the sidewalk beside the channel.

"Congrats, Raoul," shouts Leela, "The title of Daddy really suits you."

"Yeah…uh…Leela," Raoul responds, as he stares at Leela skiing on the channel. He waves at Leela with his third arm. "Hi…uh…mister…"

"That's the new boyfriend I told Vyolet about."

"Oh yeah, she mentioned you were dating a new guy. She said you said he was a keeper."

"My name is Hiei, sir. I know what you're going through, I've got a baby son at home."

"Really. Got any fatherly advice then?"

"I'm raising the kid, but I'm no expert with kids. Leela's a better one than I am."

"I'm learning too. I don't know everything. I'm picking up tips from Keiko and Shizuru. Those two are experienced moms."

"Who are they, Leela?"

"Wives of two of my friends," explains Hiei, "Shizuru is married to my long-time best friend, Kurama, and Keiko is Yusuke's wife. All four are here as well. Botan is here, merely on Leela's request."

"Botan's my best friend," confirms Leela, "I met her the evening after I met him. You must have heard by now from Vyolet I flew a time machine to the early 21st century to Tokyo, Japan. That's how I met these people. Hiei was the first person I met that day. We've been together ever since."

"Vyolet told me that's how you 21st century folks got here. You don't look like the types who were cryogenically frozen. And I know no human or mutant lives for a thousand years. Time machine would be the most probable reason why you're here. You're welcome to stay here in the sewers, fellow mutant."

"I'm not a mutant. I'm a demon. I'm a fire demon."

"There are no mutants in Hiei's era. Demons are the proper term. Demons have the unique ability to outlive humans and they have powers no normal mortal possesses. I too have acquired such powers, despite being mortal."

"What pisses Yusuke off the most is you acquired it faster than he did. It took you very little time to master your spirit-energy skills. You fly freely without much use of energy anymore. But I don't think the bonehead realizes you were a martial arts master before you came to Tokyo."

"He does, and he's still jealous."

"And it doesn't help matters that you like the old woman and her training method. Leela tells him that just to rile him up on purpose."

"How else do I get him mad enough to take me seriously?"

Leela sighs and looks at Raoul, who she sees studying her feet. "How are you doing that? You're just standing on the water like that. I know the channel isn't that shallow."

"It comes from my training with Genkai, combined with the ability to fly. Both are new techniques she showed me." "So, dear, are you ready to split? It's been a long day. You look like you've had it."

"I'm all right. Where are we in relation to the surface?"

"I know how disorienting the sewers are, but this channel pours out just before you get to the Ruins."

"It's 9:00," informs Raoul.

"He's right," confirms Leela, checking her wristband.

"Guess we can head to the Ruins. I would like to see what New York used to look like."

Leela waves back at Raoul and dashes off down the channel. "Last one to Old New York is rotten oyster juice," Leela challenges Hiei.

"Since when is it a race to get there?"

"Since I just said it, slow poke!"

"That's it, Missy. You're ass is mine."

"You've got to catch it first." She zips across the channel like a rocket. Leela reaches a set of three tunnels and slows herself to a stop.

"Why did you stop?" asks Hiei. He sees the three tunnel openings.

"To get to Old Central Park, you take the far left tunnel. That's also our way home."

"What about the other two?"

"The center one leads to old Brooklyn and the right one is old Bronx. The Bronx is where Mom's cabin is on the surface."

Leela jets off through the left tunnel, followed close behind by her lover. Suddenly Leela spots something giant and brown blocking their path. Without hesitating, she launches a Spirit Bomb towards it, destroying the giant creature.

"What was that?"

"Giant mutant rat. They're all over the sewers. If you see one, don't hesitate to kill it. They certainly won't hesitate to kill you and eat you for dinner."

"Are they as endangered as the Porko guys?"

"Hardly. There are billions of these monster rats. They are the least likely animals to go extinct any time soon."

"How come they don't come to the surface?"

"They like it down here. Also despite their size, rats have the tiniest of brains." Leela leaps over the charred remains of the rat and speeds up her pace. She observes the channel suddenly rushing at a faster pace than usual. "Dear, we've arrived at the exit of this tunnel. The channel is pouring out of the tunnel. Be careful you don't get pulled down with the current. The water at this juncture is a death hazard."

Leela dashes cautiously across the tunnel's walls and leaps out into a massive open area. She lands on the rubble of a torn street. She looks around and tries to search for her mate. She hears a trickling sound behind her. "So did you get wet just now? Sounds like you brought a piece of the current here."

"All that rushing water made me have to 'pour out.'"

"You and Fry," sighs Leela, as she gazes her eye at a deteriorated building, "Doesn't matter if you use the open street for a bathroom. Nobody's down here to catch you doing that. You're free to do whatever you want in Old New York. This old city is ours to do whatever we want."

"What did you have in mind?" Hiei turns and watches Leela peel off her tank top. She unzips her bra and shows her breasts to him.

"I was thinking about walking these old streets topless. I've never done that. Since we're the only ones down here in Old New York, we can do whatever."

"Can I…feel them?"

"We're right by the old park entrance." Leela races through the park and glides into the basin of a dry empty fountain. She pillows her shirt and bra and lies with it in the fountain.

Hiei finds her with her eye closed. "Lie here next to me and close your eyes," she beckons. "Don't fall asleep, just lie here." He complies and lies in the fountain with her.

Immediately he finds the fountain filled with water and life return to the old park. He sees the bright blue sky, as though they were transported back in the twenty-first century again.

'Do you see all this? Life as it was in this old park. Old New York is back to life again.'

'Weren't we in the underground world just now? Are you trying to say you can connect to ghosts of the past just like that?'

'That's how I was able to reach your mother tonight. I actually stepped in the pathway between the world of the living and that of the dead. I'll bet I could use this ability with that new job.'

'I know you are able to read people's thoughts and talk to the dead. I didn't know how far you could go. Does Koenma know you can do that?'

'I was hoping to tell him about it. I didn't know either. This is the first night I've been able to do this. Maybe those enhancers Kurama gave me have more power than what he was giving them credit for. They are Spirit World plants. Perhaps they've made my clairvoyance that much more possible.'

'Excuse me, folks,' utters a firm low voice, 'There's no sleeping in this fountain.'

Leela turns to see the ghost of a police officer standing beside the fountain. She looks at him with a tear tickling down her cheek. 'Sorry, sir.'

'Leela, what's the matter?' He turns to see the ghost.

'This park was this man's beat. He must have been killed here.'

'Ma'am, you're correct. I died here in this park. I was chasing this perp when a buddy of his came out of nowhere and shot me in the head.'

'I can still see the wound from where the bullet went in.'

'Are you two also dead?'

'No, just a pair of telepaths.'

'If you're here from the living world, then never mind what I said about getting out.' With that, the officer walks through the fountain and disappears.

'So is this what you brought me here to see? A park with ghosts attached to them?'

'Fry refuses to come here because it's haunted. But they aren't evil. You and I both know most ghosts tied to a place remain there for eternity. Heaven is too foreign and Hell too scary and not for them. This place is their Heaven. It's scary when you don't know the real purpose the dead wish for, but once you know it's so sad to think about.'

Leela sits up and glances around the park. 'When I look into the abyss like this, I feel as though all I want to do is pour my heart out. But then I realize there would be no reason to do that. What can I do for a world that has already died? All us New New Yorkians did was pave over this place and build a new city on top of it. It's like the founders wanted to make it seem like this place never happened.'

Leela wakes up in the real world and finds herself back underground. "What were they thinking? Burying the past like this, then pretending like it never existed in the first place. What about the lives here? They've been dead all this time, and yet we're told to forget about them." Leela buries her face in her folded arms. "Why would we do this? Are we that evil?" "In a thousand years more, what we know will be buried as well. Are we too that meaningless?"

"Leela, we aren't meaningless. You've told that to me everyday. Nobody, dead or alive, is considered meaningless."

Hiei sits back up and hold her. "The vibe I'm getting from these ghosts is they never felt like that. They remain here by choice. This place is, like you said, Heaven to them. Whether they died here or if they spent most of their lives here, it was all by choice. Perhaps the founders of the new city wanted to preserve the past, so they could admire it for what it was. It's as though the tombstones for this city are the buildings above it."

"So sorry we forgot about you ghosts. Wish we could make up for abandoning you like we did. We such foolish mortals." Leela clings to Hiei's shirt with her fists. She sobs as hard as she can.

She feels a cool breeze brush by and feels someone's hand on her back. 'Hey, ma'am,' whispers the policeman's voice, 'it's okay. This man you're with is right. We haven't been forgotten. The founder's intentions were to preserve the city for us. This park is where I was killed, in fact this fountain was the very spot where I died, but I couldn't have picked a better place to die. This was my paradise. It was that way when I was alive and even after I've been dead for so long. I know there are other ghosts here who feel the same as I do. See those two old ladies over there on that bench.' Leela turns her head and catches sight of the spirits of the grannies, 'They come here all the time to sit and gossip about their lives, even though they themselves have died long ago.'

Leela hears a dog bark and sees a golden retriever's ghost running after a Frisbee. She watches him catch the disk and race back to a young boy, who was bracing himself against a lamppost on the curb behind the fountain. 'Good boy,' shouts the young man.

She turns to see an old drunkard stagger towards the fountain. She watches him start to unzip his pants. 'Hey you!' shouts the officer.

"You mean us?" asks Hiei.

'I don't mean you two living folks. Drunkard Joe, what did I say?'

'Whass da problim of'sar?' Joe drops his pants and stands in front of the fountain.

"Leela, we'd best leave. I'm not interested in being peed on by a ghost."

"It's not real, you know."

'Joe, unless you want to spend the night in jail again, go somewhere else. Public fountains aren't toilets.'

'But…ta of'sar, wans I sart I doan sop.' Leela quickly grabs her bra and shirt and slips them on quickly. She holds both hands out to Hiei and hoist him out of the fountain.

"Just in time. Stupid drunkard and his ecto-plasma piss. We didn't have time for foreplay," sighs Leela.

"We can still do that. This is still our world."

"Yeah and have some ghost watching us have sex. That's about as creepy as if you were a child and you caught your parents doing it."

Leela sighs and the two living pair walks along the old parkway. Further from the fountain, Leela catches sight of two old men playing checkers on a stone table. 'Ha, king me, Henry,' shouts one of the men.

'I'll get you for that, Frank. Oh, I see we have two young folks watching us. You can play against me, young lady.'

'Henry, you know what your missus said about you flirting with young ladies.'

'What would she know? She's dead, Frank,' Henry protests.

'Hey news flash, you old coot, so are you!'

"We're not dead, you know," replies Leela.

'I figured that much, dear,' replies Frank.

'That's a shame too,' sighs Henry.

'It's a shame that they are alive and we aren't?' argues Frank, 'You've got that backwards, dumbass.'

'By the way, young folks, how can you see us? Most living folks can't.'

'I'm more curious how these two aren't scared of ghosts like us. Most fleshies flee from dead folks.'

"Old jijiis, it's just you guys are hardly scary," replies Hiei, "Leela and I are used to seeing ghosts. There are demons far worse than you."

"Blunt as usual. Both of us are telepaths and have clairvoyance," explains Leela, "We're used to dealing with monsters on a daily basis. Hiei himself is a demon, but as benevolent as any human. He's got a few friends like that too." "We can tell by the aura you're giving off that you park folks don't mean any harm by residing here. This is your place, your heaven."

"That's what I said and that cop back there confirmed it."

'Officer Paully is right about that,' replies Frank, 'When I passed on and St. Peter asked me where I wanted to stay, I asked him if I could stay here in New York in Central Park.'

'Same goes for me,' agrees Henry, 'I died in a stupid old folks home, but I told Peter that's not where I wanted to remain. This old park is home to us spirits.'

"You do realize you're underground," Hiei points out.

'Young man, to you we are,' explains Frank, 'That's because you're the ones down here. But in our eyes, we see the park and the city exactly how it was. Above you is a bright blue sky, the way New York has always been.'

"He's right about that," sighs Leela, "Close your eyes and you can see place for what it was." In her mind she envisions a park ripe with bright green foliage and feels the cool crisp breeze from a warm summer sky blow past her. She sees the two men sitting in the very same spot, playing their game, both looking alive as ever. 'Are you seeing this, Hiei? The spirits of this city and especially the ones here are alive, even though their physical beings are absent.'

'I see it. There's some spirit energy still left in this old park. It's only slight, but I sense the spiritual candle is still flickering, refusing to be snuffed out.'

Leela opens her eye and stares back across the buried ruins again. "When I used to come through here with Fry, I saw nothing but a barren place. Like an old ghost town without anyone haunting it. But now…"

"It's because Koenma opened that channel for you…"

"Because you insisted I have it done. If I never met you, if I remained here in the 31st century until my death, I wouldn't have known this spirit existed this long."

"But now you can. You're able see into the abyss. You're a medium who can talk to the dead like they were standing for real in front of you."

"I want to tell Koenma about this. I want to let him know about this ability. Wish there was a way to email him or something."

"You can tell this to Botan when we get back to the apartment. Where is that anyways?"

"We're not far at all." Leela directs him to an enclose set of pipes and duct work leading to the same outflow of the sewer pipe the two had emerged from. Leela leaps into the air and flies towards a door leading to a sub-basement. "Now I've got to find which exit is ours."

"How can you tell from down here?"

"We could just find a manhole cover. There's one right in front of our apartment building." Leela shines a light from her wristband. "Aw, there it is." Leela produces a spirit bomb and uses the light to display a long metal ladder hanging from the street above them. She springs up and grasps hold of the ladder rungs tightly with her hands. She hoists herself up the ladder first, and then offers her hand to her mate.

"Thanks, but I think the sewer fumes have gotten to you," he smirks at her, "Did you forget who you're dating?"

"If you were leading me, we'd be in the Bronx now." Leela climbs the ladder all the way to the manhole cover. She pulls against the wheel, trying to twist it. "It won't budge." Leela releases spirit energy to her hands. "This thing is…proving to be…this is weird. The service guys don't have problems popping these things open. They have to come down here everyday."

"Can I try?" Leela swings to the opposite side of the ladder and allows Hiei to try his luck.

"Don't destroy it, dear."

"I'm…oh Leela you were turning it the wrong way."

"Damn. I'm usually good at solving this problem. I thought all of a sudden I lost muscle mass or I didn't have the right type."

"It could be I held a sword for 700 years and know how to turn things."

"Yeah. Seven hundred years of bragging rights. That's what makes you a hothead."

"Oh very funny, Missy."

Leela ignores him and pushes the cover open. She sees the street void of any traffic. She pulls herself onto the street surface, and then offers her hand again to help her mate. "Don't think I've forgotten who or what you are. I'll help you anyways. It's like how you did for me when I was new to Tokyo and Mukuro City."

As she helps him up, she suddenly feels a jolt from the street and sees a car speeding their way. Immediately she zips out of the way to the curb in front of the apartment building. She sees the car mixed with human and robotic thugs. Followed close behind the first hover car, four other cars, all painted black with streaks of red dashed across the hood and door panels. The first car screeches to a halt and pins her to the apartment's front entrance with its headlights.

"Hiei, we've got trouble. I believe this gang wants to talk to me." She sees the other four cars slide into position, forming a semi-circle barrier in front of the building.

"Hey boss, you think she'd be perfect?" snivels a grumbling voice.

"I would say so," replies the boss.

Instantly, Hiei dashes in front of Leela. "Where did he come from?"

"Who cares? Shanty, grab the girl. Bald, you and your men, kill the pest."

"You idiots have no idea who you're dealing with. You are not taking my woman, I'll send you to hell before you get the chance."

'Hiei, there's something about this that bothers me. Where's Yusuke?'

'He's on his way here with Keiko. That robot play has ended now.'

Leela closes her eye and tries to locate the couple. She spots them in her mind inside a space tube. 'Yusuke, can you hear my thoughts?'

'Yes. You're coming in clear.'

'Tell Keiko to tell the tube to take her to the police station.'

'Why what's going on?'

'You'll find out when you get to the apartments. Ask her to pick up visitor chips, then ask her to stay there.'

Leela opens her eye and once again sees the gang still advancing towards them.

"Come on, pal. We won't even carry out our threat about killing you."

"He's right, if you just hand over the girl like a good boy…"

"Unacceptable bargain!" sneers Hiei, "You'll have to get through me first. Murdering assholes like you is one of my favorite hobbies."

"He's just all talk," comments a robot, "He's just putting on an act. Look at him, shaking like a shared human child." In a sudden flash, Hiei was back on the sidewalk in front of Leela with the robot's severed arm.

"I wasn't shaking out of fear, morons. I was prepping myself for killing your robot friend."

"Ha ha, you stupid human. You didn't kill me…me…mmmmmmmm…"

"Argil 7-1, your transmission fluid is leaking and your circuitry is fritzing," thunders a low voice, "You broke him, motherfucker. That was your last mistake."

A bulging baldheaded man charges towards Hiei with a huge spiked fist.

"Keep him busy, Bull. His woman is ours now," orders the leader.

"Is that so? Hiei, I can take these guys too." Leela charges her body with spirit energy and rushes in broadside towards a small pocket of five muscle men. She leaps into the air and dashes towards the center with a 360-revolving kick. She blasts energy from her fists, pounding one thug in the stomach.

'Kurama! We need your help down here.'

'I'm on my way. We just put Ariaco down for sleep.' "Shizuru, lock this room and keep the kid safe. Leela and Hiei need my help."

'Help is on its way. I just talked to Kurama.'

'More help the merrier. He's great at these parties.' Hiei turns his concentration on a group of five men and three robots. He slices through the robots and plunges his fists into the humans.

Leela suddenly jolts and freezes amidst her battle. 'There's more of these guys elsewhere. They're next stopover is Cookieville Orphanarium. The rest of the gang is heading there.'

'Second car to our left has hostages. My third eye is sensing female victims bound and gagged in the backseat and trunk. So far there are ten girls.'

'I'll head over to Cookieville, with…' 'Kurama, could you follow me to Cookieville instead? We can get there quickly by flight.'

'I'll stay here and deal with these guys. Don't worry about me, Leela, I'm used to multiple combatants.'

'Don't kill them. The police can't arrest dead guys.'

'Relax, I'll just hurt them enough to make them wish I had killed them.'

Leela dashes into the air, followed close behind by Kurama. She looks back at the ground and sees Yusuke exit the tube and approach the circle of villains. 'Good, he's not missing out on the brawl.'

"I feel sorry for them," smirks Kurama.

"Which them?"

"This gang of course. They have no idea what they're in for, especially with an expert street fighter like Yusuke fighting them."

"That's why I asked him to come. He looked like he didn't get enough in the war."

Leela zips through the air, leaping across the treetops and across building roofs. She reaches New Brooklyn and sees the orphanarium from the air. She lands on the rooftop and waits for Kurama to catch up. 'It's Fiery, again.'

Leela spots the woman on the rooftop. "What are you doing here, Fiery?"

"These guys led me here. They plan to take the building and hold these children hostage."

"The gang decided to pay Hiei and I a visit. He's back at the apartments with Yusuke. They've got hostages with them too, all female." Leela spots Kurama coming closer and land on the rooftop.

"What's the plan? Hi, Fiery. Nice seeing you here."

"I say we storm the place and open fire."

"Fiery, if it was just the gang in the building, I'd say sure. However Mr. Vogel and the children are here and their lives come first."

Leela taps out an email to Mr. Vogel. "What's the meaning of waking me like this?" he protests.

"Never mind that. Grab the kids and head to the sub-basement now. Make up some excuse, like it's an invading-alien-attack drill."

"Anything else, Leela?"

"Wait until I give you the all clear signal, then call the police."

Fiery looks over at Kurama and sees him tearing strips of paper. "What's he doing?"

"Shikigami," explains Leela, "They are paper puppets with spirit attachment."

"I'm sending them in place of the children. These punks will think the kids are still asleep in their beds. When the puppets attach themselves to the hair fibers of the children, they will take the exact form and appearance of each child. I've also sent on to that guy's sleeping quarters."

"So there will be a paper puppet of Mr. Vogel. Clever plan, Kurama. Good, I'm sensing the real inhabitants are safe in the sub-basement." Leela shows a thumb to Fiery. Fiery swings herself to a nearby window and melts the bars with her fire-breath. She dashes inside, followed close behind by Leela and Kurama. Once inside, all three scatter into darkness, using the shadows as cover. Kurama finds a dead branch and creates a knife with it.

"They're here," he whispers, "First floor. I can make myself invisible. You girls, please be careful."

"I know," replies Leela, "I fought these guys myself. They are tough brutes. Fiery, are you familiar with this gang? If not, I've read their minds, so I can fill you in."

"What are they about? This is the first time I've seen this gang."

"They've got a mixer of Earthican humans and kill-bots mixed together. I know their objective is to capture the most innocent and vulnerable of victims. Their gang confronted me specifically. Their leader ordered his men to kill Hiei and snatch me. They've already got girls they've snatched. They plan to use Cookieville as their hideout and easy access to the orphans. Most of these guys are harden criminals. Their ringleader has a criminal history as long as Robot Santa's Naughty List."

"What sort of things have they done?" asks Fiery.

"Rape, pedophilia, child molestation, first-degree murder, attempted murder, forced prostitution for their women victims…that's all I got from Rocko's mind. Bennie Rocko is the main boss."

"You got all of that, Leela?" asks Fiery, "But how do you do that."

"She's a telepath. My best friend, the guy Leela's dating, is the same way."

"Not just that. I'm also getting testimonials from their dead victims. Something very disturbing with this gang is their victims don't last long. In fact the night this one girl was taken, she's telling me she was killed by this strong-muscular guy, who goes by the name Dawg Breath. He looks very much like Arbu, Kurama, but with a human face."

"Who's Arbu?"

"Dog-demon buddy of mine from my time…hush…someone's coming."

Kurama camouflages himself behind a door, as he peeks through a broken hole. Leela sneaks into the upper nursery with Fiery and both girls blend themselves into the shadows. Suddenly, Leela spots a wiry black robot stomp its way into the nursery. She watches it sneak towards a crib and grab one of the shikigami babies.

'He's taken the bait, Kurama. I'm moving in.'

Leela dashes quietly through the room and grabs the robot's arms from behind it. "What is this? What are you…?" Leela presses a button on the back of its head and retrieves its brain. She takes the cartridge and reprograms the disk with her wristband.

"What are you doing?" asks Kurama.

"I'm making him our friend. Now we'll have a robotic ally." Leela returns the rewritten disk to the robot's head.

"What just happened? It's you boss. My boss is Turonga Leela," it replies, "My name is Roto569. But you can just call me Roto."

"Was that his real name?" asks Fiery.

"No, but I renamed him. Drop the baby Roto and come with us."

"Yes, boss," obeys Roto. It returns the puppet to the crib and follows its new human comrades.

Leela, Fiery, and Kurama slink through the room, ducking in and out of shadows. Leela sneaks towards the door leading to a hallway. She sees two shadowy figures standing on opposite sides of the door. Fiery motions for Leela and Kurama to cover their own nose and mouth. Then Fiery reaches into her pocket and slips a sleeping grenade under the door. Instantly the grenade explodes, releasing the gas on the men. Fiery motions to wait until the guards are completely subdued.

Leela checks the hall again to see no other men or robots roaming, and then turns the knob slowly. Suddenly she pauses and motions her two friends to hide again.

"Roto, quiet yourself and power down," Leela whispers. The robot complies with her and shuts itself off.

"Hey dumbass, wake up!" booms a low angry voice.

"Dude, they're out cold. And that stupid robot we sent up here…can't Maxim handle a simple snatch and grab?"

"You think someone's up here. A cop…maybe?"

"You idiot, why would there be a cop here? We severed the link between here and the cops, during the chaos of that pig war. All we have here are brats. Get in there and snatch a baby."

The door slams open and a slender brown-haired man marches boldly into the room. He walks over to a crib and snatches a different baby than Roto had grabbed earlier. "Frizzy, ya gonna grab one too. That was easy."

"Yeah, good thing we silenced the owner here. Now we can have as many rugrats as possible. Rocko's going to be pleased about this."

"Ya think he's gonna make us his right-hand men?"

"Dawg owns that title and you know it."

Frizzy starts to walk to the door with the baby in his arms, when he finds his feet stuck to the floor. "What the fuck's this?"

"Frizzy, did you step in something? Did that brat ralph up his baby-food shit on your shoes?"

"No, Reggie, there's a vine of…ouch. Something's snaking itself on the floor." Frizzy is flipped backward and his whole body becomes entangled in a thorny vine. Simultaneously, his buddy suffers the same fate. Fiery tosses another gas grenade in the room, and then hustles Leela, Roto, and Kurama out of the room, closing the door quickly behind them.

"Nice work with the rope-thing," whispers Fiery.

"That was my doing. I simply created restraints from the wood grain in the floorboards," Kurama whispers back.

"Fiery, the man's great with plants," replies Leela.

"We leave babies. Where to next?" asks Roto.

"Show us where the other gang members are," instructs Leela.

"As you wish." Roto opens his chest plate and shows a black-and-white image of Mr. Vogel's office.

"Looks like Rocko's made that his home base. Show me Mr. Vogel's sleeping quarters."

The robot complies and flicks to the streaming video of his room. Leela sees two lean men and a robot firing rounds at Mr. Vogel's body. "Oh my. Why would they do this?" whispers Leela.

"Is he…he's dead?" replies Fiery in a shaky voice. "We're too late…" She covers her mouth.

"That's not him though," reassures Kurama, "That's only a puppet. They killed a paper puppet with the likeness of Vogel-sama."

"I know that was a fake, but…still…if we hadn't got here in time…" Leela starts shaking and collapses to the floor, "Mr. Vogel would have…no…who would want to end his life like that? These men have no reason, no motive. They live only to make others suffer. They have no heart, or soul. It's like…" Tears stream from Leela's eye. She jerks her head and stares into Kurama's eyes. "…They are no better than the man-eater demons we've been fighting back home."

He grabs Leela and holds her in his arms. Kurama says nothing at first, letting her cry her eye out. "You're right, this is just like at home. It's like the evil from our era found its way here. These men here were borne with the festering evil in their hearts."

"Do you think it's because the dragon was released on Kasuku's chosen date? Is my era suffering from that?"

"Hard to say. It may have, or it was lingering here for quite sometime. Maybe because of this war, these guys might have picked this opportunity to pick off victims, especially with such a bountiful selection." "Leela, maybe tonight is proving something to you. Perhaps this is the tool to test your abilities that you've been longing for. These are the sort of skills required for being a spirit detective or lieutenant. Being quick and following your instincts are traits Koenma likes in his employees, especially ones he plans to hire."

"That's what Hiei told me back in the sewers and Old New York. Tonight, I went to the edge of the abyss and asked for Hina. She came and took over my mom's body."

"You did that? Hiei hasn't had contact with his mother for most of his life. He saw her a few years ago in some poor woman's body, but…wow. You're able to go that far for his sake, to reach his mother. What else?"

"She entered my mom's body and used it to hug him."

"You did that for both of them. Telepathy is one thing, but doing something like that…"

"Was it wrong for me to do that?"

"No, there's nothing sinful or illegal about it," sighs Kurama, "It's just a rare trait. Not even I can do something like that, and I've been around for a millennium."

"Did that plant you gave me have something to do with it? It's a Spirit World plant."

"It might be, but I doubt it. Talking to the dead or coming into their world while you're alive, is such a rarity itself. You must have a trait like that in your family history. Something like that is inherited. Only about two percent of the Earth's population has abilities like what you have."

"I know my dad doesn't have that, but Mom…she was able to become a vessel for Hina's spirit. But she's not aware of that ability. I didn't know I could even do that…tonight was my first attempt."

"You're halfway correct on that. You're ability to control dreams is one aspect of that. Most humans aren't able to do that. Your subconscious…"

"Shh…" interrupts Fiery, "I hear someone coming." All three back themselves behind a dark shadow beside a wall opposite a lavatory.

Suddenly, a door between the stairs and the hallway is slammed open and a bald overweight man barrels his way into the lavatory, with his hands clamped over his mouth. Leela plugs her ears to the sound of the man spewing his guts into a toilet. Two other men follow him in.

"Ha ha, look at you. Big guy can't even hold his own liquor."

"Dude, you did that to him. He's got that weakness for deviled eggs."

"Yeah but I didn't make him drink after that. Stupid ass."

"Well whatever. We're up here anyways. I gotta whiz."

"Man, there are only kiddy pissers though."

"What'd you expect from a poor kiddy house. I gotta put my juice somewhere."

'Kurama, you think we should get 'em?' suggests Leela.

'Yeah, I'll handle Mr. Vomit. You ladies can each get the two at the urinals.'

Leela motions to Fiery for the two Kurama mentioned. Stealthfully, they each approach their victim from behind. "Shake it off good," Leela whispers into her victim's ear. Before he is able to turn to face her, she grabs the man from behind and yanks him backward to the floor. She holds his neck in her muscular arms until he succumbs to the pressure and causes him to pass out.

The second guy looks back at his buddy lying on his back with his penis exposed. He immediately catches sight of Leela. "You bitch! What did you…?" Suddenly he feels a jolt in his back and collapses head first into the urinal.

"We're not killing them?" whispers Fiery.

"That's not our job. Let the state do that. These guys are looking at life sentences and death penalties when they get arrested. For the robots, it'll be the robot asylum and magnetism-style execution."

"How long will their sentences be?" asks Kurama, as he chokes the obese man into submission. "I know your country takes its time between the sentencing part and the actual execution of the sentence. At least that's what I read from my newspaper."

"In your era, it could take ten years for a prisoner to get his due, but here the time is swift, like a week or two. The robots can be rebooted, but if their crimes are worse than their operating manuals allow, then they get magnetized."

All three humans dash out of the lavatory to the robot in the hall.

"I stood guard, boss, like you wanted. Nobody came," reports Roto.

"Good work," whispers Leela, "Let's move out to the next floor down. These guys are spread throughout the building." Fiery places another smoke grenade in the lavatory and shuts the door quickly.

"How many of those things do you have?" asks Leela.

"About three dozen. I make these specifically for a no-kill mission like this."

Kurama camouflages himself and inches his way down the stairway first. 'Leela, we've got three, no five guys walking the hallway. Looks like two of them are snorting snow.'

He catches a guy sitting at the bottom of the stairs with his hand down his pants. "Hey Toad Man, when're those biotches getting here? My dong's craving action."

"They're coming here. Just be patient."

"I can't. I want to fuck something now."

"Then grab a kid, moron. Here." Kurama watches the man leave the hallway and return with a little shikigami girl.

'They've captured a child to rape.'

'What does the kid look like?' asks Leela.

'It's a small girl with three ears.'

'That's Sally. So these guys have no shame. They'll molest children just to satisfy their own natural call.'

Fiery tries to sneak down the steps but can't help making a squeak on the stairs. The man on the stairs hears the noise and turns around. "Who's there? Show yourself."

Kurama reappears, transformed into Frizzy. "It's only me, idiot. The others are upstairs now with the rugrats."

"Where's Toby? I saw him race through here with a mouthful. Skeeter and Link are up there with him."

"Last I saw, Toby was ralphin' and I saw the other two puttin' their juice in kiddy pissers. I even joined them with my own juice."

'Great acting, Kurama,' Leela comments.

'Thanks. By the way, there are five in the hallway, eight more in the sleeping quarters, three in the boys' restroom, two in the girls', and at least fifteen robots scattered everywhere.'

'Are they all just loitering?'

'They must be waiting for those women, which are back at the apartments still. Leela, can you see what's going on there?'

Leela closes her eye and reaches Hiei's thoughts. 'How are things on your end?'

'You're missing the fun back here. These guys are nothing. Yusuke's enjoying his time. It's like a nostalgic trip for him.'

'How are the hostages?'

'Safe inside the building. Shizuru came down with Botan and rescued the girls they captured. The girls are safe in all three apartments.'

'Thank you, darling,' Leela sighs in relief.

Suddenly Leela hears a loud commotion from the front entrance. The whole floor of men becomes jolted to the boisterous noise. "Roto," Leela whispers, "please show me the camera view from the entrance."

Roto complies and displays a rolling image of a team of Porko-09 residents storming into the building. "What's this?"

"They followed me here," confesses Fiery, "After you and that guy of yours left for the sewers, I stopped off at a bar for more adult stuff. At least ten of these pig-guys were in there with me. Five of the pigs said they overheard a group of these punks while in the men's room. The pig boys reported this to their boss and I overheard the plans to take over this building. That's why I'm here now."

'So I guess this is payback for what we did for them,' Kurama thinks.

'Couldn't have asked for better help. I'll take what I can get,' smiles Leela, "They could be subtle though."

"These guys are like that," sighs Fiery, "Not the race, I mean. These boys in particular love to make their presence known."

"Leela's boyfriend's like that too," smiles Kurama, while still in character, "He's been like that for as long as I've known him."

"Hey I heard a woman's voice," announces a low angry voice.

"They've arrived you think?"

The man on the stairs turns around, only to have Leela's boot swiftly kick him in the face. Kurama quickly flashes a smokescreen, creating an instant fog for the entire floor. He sends Leela the signal to follow him through the smokes' confusion, to the staircase at the end of the hall. Fiery tosses more gas grenades throughout the floor to anesthetize the men. Leela releases a telekinetic charge with the smokescreen to disable all robots, with the exception of Roto.

"How many floors are in this place?" asks Kurama.

"Four floors minus the sub-basement. Mr. Vogel's office is right on the first floor. That's where Rocko is. I want to fight him personally."

"Rocko has moved. He's now on the second floor," reports Roto.

"The pigs must have scared him. There's another office above the first floor, as well as play area and a nurse's station. The kitchen, school, and dining areas are on the first, along with Mr. Vogel's main office," informs Leela.

Leela motions to the other two keep a low profile. "We've got the guy cornered and out numbered. Roto's picking up at least ten individuals plus Rocko and Dawg. I want to tackle Rocko."

"I'll take out Dawg," Fiery offers.

"I'll handle the ten underlings," whispers Kurama, "This time I don't want to make them pass out. I want a real fight."

"Yes, especially with the balance of power tipping in our favor. How long do the effects of those smoke bombs last?"

"It could last between six to twelve hours," informs Fiery.

"That'll buy us plenty of time. So by the time those guys upstairs wake up, they'll see jail cells instead of the inside of an orphanage. Serves them right."

"I'll go first and keep the underlings busy, while you girls handle the brutes in the upstairs office. I know Leela can handle Mr. Rocko; she fights lower B and C class demons on a daily basis. Fiery, will you be able to handle Mr. Dawg?"

"I'm excellent with hand-to-hand. I've handled guys bigger than myself," assures Fiery.

Kurama winks at the girls then saunters down the staircase, walking calmly through the hallway like he had always done. "Who are you, buddy? You're not one of us," grumbles a large muscular black man with a bushy beard, a baldhead, and a robotic eye on the right side of his face.

"I was going ask you that," Kurama replies with a yawn, "I've been trying to sleep upstairs but you guys are making it rough."

"Zeek," replies another black guy with the same appearance as the first, but with rainbow hair, "who's he? If he ain't in our group, plug him."

Kurama disappears from the two men's sights and reappears in front of the door leading to the playroom. "If you plan to shoot me, go ahead."

"With pleasure, Mac…hey my gun!" shrieks Zeek.

"Yeah mine's gone too. Gaa…motherfucker swiped them."

"You can have them back…" Kurama tosses the proton guns into the air and slices them to pieces with his whip, "Just good luck piecing them back together."

"Bastard! After him, Fletcher." Both men charge after Kurama, only to be stashed by the rosewhip. One by one, the men collapse to the floor, bleeding and in sheer pain.

"Be thankful I spared you. Your injuries are serious, but not life threatening."

"Bastard…ow," replies Fletcher in a weakened, shaky voice.

'Hall's cleared, Leela-san.'

'Thanks.' "Fiery, we're good to go."

Fiery and Leela walk quickly through the hallway, stepping cautiously over the bodies of the injured men. "Can't believe he took both these guys out?"

"You should see him kill demons stronger than these two. Sometimes he's forced to fight multiple guys at once. But that's his specialty, Fiery." Both girls peek through the door's slight opening.

Kurama walks into the room and sits casually on a giant beach ball. Immediately three guys approach him. "Hey, think we missed someone," replies a lean muscular man, with a spiky, neon-green beard, wearing torn black jeans, and a black shirt with the words 'Anti-Christ' written in screen-printed blood.

"Look at him, just sitting there," snickers a guy resembling Yusuke, but with a robotic arm on his left side and rainbow-tinted spikes in his black hair.

"I thought I heard some scumbag in the hallway. Did you come in with those pigs downstairs?" asks the third man, resembling Fry, except with a shaved head and snake tattoos all over his shirtless body.

"I have no Earthy idea what you're all talking out," Kurama replies, while picking at something in his ear with his pinky finger, "I've been here all night. The way I see it, you're the ones who are new here. I've been upstairs all night with a kid who upchucked in his bed. Then another kid ran in the room with wet pajamas, crying. So I've been busy all night with those two."

"So you work here. No matter. We killed the owner. Nothing personal. We just don't like witnesses." All three men point guns in Kurama's face.

"Oh damn it! Why doesn't he do something?" asks Fiery, "Why are you just sitting there, dumbass? Move. Fight back. I'll go in there."

"Wait, Fiery. Don't you sense what's going on? At first glance, Kurama seems to be backed into a corner. If you were to look at him versus those three brutes, then you're judgment that he's outnumbered would be right. However, Kurama is fighting these guys. Notice how relaxed he is, even with proton guns in his face. All three of these thugs are the ones all tense and anxious."

"So what does that mean? Is he psyching them out? But won't that get him further killed?"

"He bragged to us earlier about being alive for a thousand years. Kurama is an extremely bright individual. He's really a fox demon in a human body, so you're seeing what he's capable of. My guess is he's fought like this before, and not only came out on top, but he injured the enemy in the process. Psychological warfare is his favorite type of battle."

"I've read something on Japanese fox legends," recalls Fiery, "They are said to be conartists, great actors, thieves, and tricksters. They have the ability to make themselves invisible, and then transform their appearance into someone else. Usually they prefer women, which they can transform themselves into. They can even make duplicates of themselves to fool their pursuers."

"He's also got the smokescreen effect both to escape and to confuse his enemy," replies Leela.

Just then, the thug with robotic arm fires and hits the green-bearded man in the foot. "What the hell man? Baxter, you traitor."

"I c…couldn't h…help it. Some…Hey asshole! What the hell did you do to me?"

"What'd you mean?" sighs Kurama, "You're the one shot him. Don't blame me for shooting your friend."

"I'll kill you," threatens Baxter. He aims his gun again and fires it, this time shooting the bald guy in his right arm.

"Oh crap! The boss is on the move," whispers Leela.

"You see him?" asks Fiery.

"No, but, he and Dawg are heading for the sub-basement. We need to cut them off before they get there."

"Are they moving now?"

"I just read Rocko's mind. I think he knows something's wrong with his men upstairs. He's calling them but is getting no response."

"So why not up there instead?"

"Possibly because he believes our friends from Porko got there first," suggests Leela. "Fiery, how fast can you move?"

"I'm a lightning sprinter, so…"

"Good, follow me then." Leela disappears in a flash, leaving only a visual trail down the last flight of stairs. Fiery follows her with similar speed until both girls reach a small closet-looking door on the kitchen wall.

"Fiery, can you stand guard while I go inside? Those two aren't here yet." Fiery nods and Leela slips past the door.

She zips down an elevator shaft, leading to the sub-basement itself. "Hey, it's me, Mr. Vogel. Is everyone all right?"

"It's you Leela. So good to see you," Mr. Vogel replies, hugging her, "How are things going upstairs?"

"Almost done. We've secured all floors. One of my friends is battling these bad guys, as we speak."

"Mr. Vogel, I'm tired," whines Sally.

"Yeah and I have ta potty," gripes Albert, holding himself. "Me too," gripes another young voice.

"Just be patient, guys. We've got two more to beat. Shouldn't be too long."

"But I gotta pee now!" shouts Albert.

"Then go over to the open service door and go on the ground," Mr. Vogel suggests. Albert nods his head and scurries to service door, at the far end of the room, "Jessica, you follow him and sit on the ground."

"Mr. Vogel. My friend Kurama, the one who's fighting them now, he made a paper puppet of you. He had it stand in for you, but…those thugs…those soulless men…" Leela starts weeping and collapses in his arms. "Their first objective was to get rid of you. If we didn't show up…if we got here any… They killed you, Mr. Vogel."

"Leela, I had no idea. I…I don't know… Why would they do that?"

"To remove you as a witness, so they could have free access to these kids. These disgusting animals, they wanted to molest them, force them to…to…" Leela sobs as hard as she can.

"So that was their true objective. Real motive was to have sex with the kids without anyone from the outside knowing it."

"They were bringing women here as well. Their plan was to make this into a whorehouse. Then once they were done with this place, they would kill everyone, leaving no witnesses willing or able to testify against them later."

"Thanks for being here to stop them. We'll repay you and your friends first thing tomorrow."


	36. Chapter 36

"Leela, are you there?" Fiery asks over the wristband.

"What's going on?"

"They're headed this way."

"I've gotta go, Mr. Vogel. These last two men are the boss and his right-hand man. Fiery and I are going to stop them from getting in here."

"Okay, we'll stay here until you return."

"But, Mr. Vogel, my stomach," complains Nina. "I wanna go up now. It's cold and my tummy hurts."

"What's wrong with Nina?"

"She's got a little stomach bug. She's thrown up a couple times."

"Hope she gets over it. I don't want it." Leela leaps back up the shaft just before hearing Nina gasp.

Leela slips past the door and sees Fiery again. "Made it," Leela sighs.

"To fight Dawg and Rocko? Yeah. I hear them approaching."

"That and I didn't need to hear Nina puke. She's sick tonight."

"Aw poor little dear. Ariaco had the same bug a few weeks ago. His mom kept him inside all day. There wasn't much on Porko to ease his stomach either. All the doctors and health places were wiped out due to the ongoing extinction. Then after a couple days he was fine."

Leela focus shifts to two bulky shadows approaching the hall. "Hey, who are you two?" thunders a bulky man with a robotic right eye, bald with the exception of two black pigtails, and a spiky beard.

"Yeah, visitor hours are over," taunts the second man with a boxer-like face, wearing an old tattered jumpsuit.

"Sorry, boys, but you see we girls heard there was going to be some party going on here," replies Leela, "And we just hate missing out on fun. Isn't that right, Fiery?"

"You said it, Leela."

Rocko grins and points a gun at Leela, and Dawg simultaneously points his at Fiery. "Sorry, but the fun ends for you lovelies. If you want, we'll spare your lives if you agree to…"

Leela quickly disappears from sight and reappears behind the men with their guns. "I know where you were going with that. Being your bitch just isn't top priority for me. Is it for you, Fiery?" Leela asks launches the guns in Fiery's direction.

"Not with these monkeys," replies Fiery, as she blows out a fireball, exploding the guns in the flames. "Fight us for real, boys, unless you ain't man enough," Fiery challenges, popping her fingers.

"We intended to," sneers Rocko, "I can take both you on."

"Aw and leave your buddy with nobody. That's very cold of you," replies Fiery in false pity, "I'll take on you…uh…"

"Dawg Breath."

"Right, and I'll take you, Boss-man," challenges Leela.

Rocko charges into Leela's direction, only to land a punch in the air. "Where are you aiming? You know this space is way too cramped."

"Where then?" asks Fiery.

"Sub-basement was where these guys were headed. There's plenty of room."

"But isn't that where…?" Leela nods with a grin. "Show off," Fiery smirks.

Leela entices Rocko into through the elevator shaft. "Should we follow them?" asks Dawg.

"They've got me curious. There was something up with those bodies. The leader didn't bleed when Frizzy plugged him. Must mean that was a decoy and real thing's down here."

"What's your plan, boss?"

"Dawg, what plan? We'll ditch these girls then have ourselves some rugrats."

Rocko charges at Leela first, taunting her. "You have a choice, little girl. I'll spare your life if you become my girl."

"Sorry, Rocko," she slashes forward, smacking him in the face with a lightning jab, "I'm spoken for. And my boyfriend isn't the type to just take it." She flies up and belts him in the stomach with a blinding kick, knocking him down. "See, neither am I."

"Boss! What was that?" Dawg shouts.

"Shut up, Dawg. Concentrate on the bitch coming after you." Fiery races at Dawg, broad-siding him with an engulfed fist.

Dawg recovers quickly, spitting blood from his mouth. He charges straight at Fiery, grabbing her by the neck. Fiery bites his arm, causing a burn scar on his flesh. She flips around to his back and smashes her boots on his back, causing one of his vertebrae to fracture.

Meanwhile, Leela sizes up Rocko, and is grabbed by him. She quickly slips out of his grasp and launches a spirit bomb his way. Before he can react to the blast, she barrels into his body with a fistful of energy, slamming him into a concrete wall.

"Boss!" shouts Dawg. Rocko stumbles to his feet, with blood oozing out of his shoulder.

"See, Boss, I had my night all planned out with my boyfriend, but then your friends decided to crash our date. At this moment, Hiei's dispatching with your boys now, back at my apartment building. Two of his friends are doing the same thing, and one of them is upstairs now. These boys have been through this before. Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke handle demons stronger than you are with more energy than you're outputting. Fiery and I are falling into that category now, of demon killers."

"Big talk for such little girls," Rocko coughs in protest. He races towards Leela, barreling both fists in her direction. She braces herself and catches his fists with her hands. She holds her ground and slams him into the concrete floor, rocketing him across a series of metal sewer grates. He tries to move, but an open gash to his left shoulder blade prevents him from even sitting up.

"I wouldn't move, unless you want that wound to get serious. Our intention tonight wasn't to kill you. But if you die from your injuries, you'll only have yourself to blame."

"Boss!" shouts Dawg, "You bitches will pay for this."

"If you come after us again, there will be no second chance," threatens Fiery, "We won't hesitate to kill you."

"Yeah and next time you'll have to answer to my assassin-expert boyfriend, as well. Hiei doesn't usually hold back, in fact I requested him to refrain. Come after us again, and your heads will come off first. His katana will guarantee that."

Leela turns and strides over to Mr. Vogel. "Go ahead, and email the police. These guys are finished."

"Thanks Leela and Miss…"

"It's Fiery."

'Kurama, are things good up there?'

'Leela, looks like they are into shooting each other.'

'And who do we thank for that?' she smirks.

'I've checked in at the apartments. Looks like nobody but the gang are injured. I've even asked Shizuru to call the police. She says they're on their way now.'

'Good boy.' "Go ahead, Mr. Vogel, fill the cops in on our little get-together."

'By the way, your man's here,' informs Kurama.

'Thank you. I'm in the mood to see him. Tell him to meet me in the playroom on the second floor.' "Second floor everyone. Everyone except for you bleeding guys. Your slumber party will be held at the jailhouse tonight."

"Mr. Vogel, I don't feel well," complains Nina.

"Leela, you guys go ahead," informs Mr. Vogel, "She's getting sick again."

"We've got a doctor upstairs. I know he's got something for that bug."

"We'll be up after she throws up."

Leela dashes past the doors and up the stairs to the second floor. She slams into the playroom doors into Hiei's waiting arms, like an excited child. He hoists her up into the air, and then drops her quickly into his arms. "You missed me, babe? Were you thinking about me?" asks Leela.

"I was about to ask you that, angel girl." He twirls with her until finally coming to a rest on a huge beanbag chair leaning against a cement-block wall. He starts exchanging kisses with her almost immediately after sitting with her in his lap.

"Babe, we've got…oh who cares…let them look." She allows him to feel the bare skin of her stomach and chest. She combs through his long silky hair with her fingers, removing his headband in the process.

"You really want that to show?"

"I want all of you to see me. Besides this is my era. Three eyes are no big deal." She kisses him. "If you don't think Sally is weird with an extra ear on her forehead, I doubt an extra eye on yours would matter to her." She closes her eye, letting her mind relax.

Kurama turns his, trying not to look at the couple. 'You're in my shoes now, bro.' He closes his eyes and drifts back to when he started dating Shizuru. Sally starts approaching the couple, but Kurama holds out his hands and refrains her. "Let those two be, dear-heart. Miss Leela needs time with her mate now."

"But I…okay," sighs Sally.

"You see, someday that guy will be her husband."

"Really? I thought Fry would be?"

"She thought so too, until she met this man. Hiei's not like any man she's ever been with. This is her soul mate."

"Soul mate?" asks Sally, "What's a soul mate?"

"Someone you love with all your heart. Someone special in your life you want to spend forever with. Do you have someone like that? Is there a boy you like?"

"Well I think I like Wally. He's got short blond hair, blue eyes, and a tail like I do. But I think he's so shy. He teases me to no end."

"He probably likes you then. Picking on a girl is a way a boy express his feelings for her."

"But he's always calling me names like Ear Girl or Ear Face like everyone else does. Then he pushes me in the mud outside."

"That's just how boys are, especially ones your age. Wally is trying to express his feelings for you, but doesn't want other kids to know it. He probably doesn't know how to treat a sweet young lady like you yet. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm ten. So is he."

"You won't have long then. I'm almost sure he'll come around in about six years and may ask you out."

"Really? Then I'll be like Miss. Leela over there. Did she meet that boy here?"

"No, but he is an orphan like her. Unfortunately, both his parents are dead. He didn't have a nice place to grow up like this orphanage. What Leela's doing is she's trying to fill the void in his life. She's trying to spend every moment with him to make up for his lifetime of loneliness."

"Oh," sighs Sally. Mr. Vogel approaches Kurama and extends his hand.

"I take it you're Mr. Vogel," replies Kurama, as he stands and exchanges handshakes with the gray-haired man.

"That's right, and you must be the man who led this rescue mission."

"I was merely assisting, but the one you really should thank is that lovely lady sitting on that beanbag chair with my best friend. These bad men came around our neighborhood and these two picked up on their mischief. Then she sensed trouble heading this way and asked me to help her."

Leela looks up at a nearby window and sees red and blue lights flashing. She closes her eye and pretends to ignore the lights. 'Police are here, babe.'

'Should we get up?'

'Naw, let them catch us engaged in innocent love. Not like we're doing anything wrong.' She reaches her hand under his shirt and rubs his warm skin.

"Well, well," replies a mousy voice from behind Leela and Hiei. She turns to see Officer Smitty and URL standing in front of them, "It seems we got some love-makin' here."

"Ah yeah," sighs URL, "We'll try some of that too."

"Hey guys," Leela chimes, "Nice seeing you here."

"Who are these two?" asks Hiei.

"Officer Smitty, sir, and this here's my partner URL. We're here to arrest those troublemakers."

"They're all over here. We've got guys asleep upstairs on both floors, injured guys here on this floor, and two severely injured bosses in the sub-basement."

"We've got our boys combing the building now."

"Patrol 718," responds a voice over URL's intercom, "We've got the body of Mr. Vogel up here along with a number of dead children."

"Those aren't real," replies Leela, "They are merely decoys. The real inhabitants are all safe on the second floor."

"Roger," responds the officer, "Yeah, no need to bring the coroner here, guys, these bodies appear to be nothing more than paper machete."

Leela looks over at Kurama and sees Sally asleep in his arms. "Poor thing. This whole night must have been too much for her."

"Yeah, she's right," sighs Mr. Vogel, "In fact it's way past your bedtimes, guys."

"What are you going to do though with the police upstairs?" asks Kurama.

"We'll camp out here in the playroom," shrugs Vogel.

"What about me?" asks Nina.

"We'll find you a bed and put a bucket beside you."

"What's wrong with her? She looks sort of pale."

"Nina's got the flu. Stomach flu. She's been throwing up all night."

"I've got something that might help her. It'll ease her stomach tonight, at least."

"Are you a doctor, sir?"

"Yes. I'm employed at a hospital in Tokyo, Japan." Kurama reaches into his pocket and produces a tiny pill. "You think you can keep this down, Nina?"

"I'll try," she replies, while coughing on her fist.

"You don't even need water," he assures her. Nina swallows the pill. "Now I'd still recommend a bucket beside her bed, just in case, Vogel-sama. Plus I've got more pills incase she needs them. She should also stay away from the others and get two full days of rest. After that, she should be back to normal."

"Thank you, doc," Vogel smiles. Both men watch a few preteen boys start pulling out sleeping bags from a large closet in the playroom. "We've got beds for you folks too," offers Vogel.

"Thanks, but my wife would kill me if I didn't return to apartment tonight. We've got an orphan with us tonight, a Porkonian."

"You've got one of theirs. I received a notice earlier about that. Glab's reported several more rescued orphans from there. Cookieville will be taking in their young until Porso fully establishes his government in the new Porko planetary system."

"So is it just you who runs this place?"

"I've got staff who come by. There are a group of women who come from the greater city to help with nightly affairs. They'll be here in a few minutes. Don't worry, doc, one woman, Miss Betty, will be taking over Nina's care. She's a registered nurse."

Leela stretches and ambles to her feet. She offers her hands to Hiei, smiling at him with a calm expression. "We'll leave for the apartment." She starts to fly, but stumbles backward into Hiei's arms.

"Missy, your flight plan has been canceled for tonight," he chuckles, "You barely have the energy to walk. Let me take you home." Leela waves to Mr. Vogel, before being escorted to the first floor and out the main door.

Leela watches officers carrying out loaded stretchers, with injured men riding them. 'At least the only injuries were to the thugs who started this problem to begin with.' She closes her eye and relaxes her body in Hiei's arms.

Quickly he dashes off into the night, holding her body tight in his arms. 'I had no doubt you wouldn't succeed tonight. I trusted you'd be safe, despite the danger around you.' He utters a deep sigh with sadness in his breath. 'As brave and strong as you are though, I still fear for your safety. The thought of losing you, even in the least likely event, still scares me. I know I should…'

'Quiet your thoughts. Please, don't think that. I could never leave you; you should know that by now. But I couldn't just not do anything. The orphans. Mr. Vogel. They needed my help tonight. If Fiery, Kurama, and I weren't there, they really would have died. They would be the ones being wheeled out on those stretchers. The bodies upstairs…' Tears trickle from Leela's eye. She turns her head and buries her face in his white collar.

"I understand. You've had enough things happen tonight. We're only a few minutes from home." He sets her down on a sturdy tree branch.

"We're almost home, so why did you stop?" She opens her eye and looks out to a clear sky, with the full moon shining across the land. "I've lived here my whole life and have never seen the sky like this. It almost looks like how it did on that beach in Japan."

"The night you accepted me as your lover."

"I don't regret that night. It's under this celestial sky that we became one. I feel even more close to you than ever under a sky like this." She lies on his lap, playing with his fingers with her own. She lays her head back, making his white collar like a pillow. "I just…I don't want any more excitement tonight. I want to…" Slowly she drifts off to sleep.

"Understood. I'll just take you home, my angel." He gathers her again in his arms and resumes his flight through the trees and across building roofs. He finally lands on the window ledge on the right floor of her building. He slides the window open and carries her inside. He starts to pick through her pockets when the door opens for them. "Botan, it's you."

"Yeah, the police have already come through here and gathered the hostages. Hiei, is her city really this dangerous? You don't see things like this at home."

"Actually you do, but Tokyo is nowhere near as big as New York," he answers, as he places Leela on her bed.

"Rocko! I'll make you pay, bastard!" shouts Leela in her sleep.

"Who's that?"

"He was the ringleader, apparently. Well not anymore. Before Leela and that Fiery-girl came upstairs, Kurama told me these guys, Rocko and Dawg, were planning to make the orphanage into a brothel-type place. Those girls they had rounded up and the kids at the orphanage were to be used like sex-slaves. Then once they were done, Rocko and his posse were going to kill all their captives, leaving no witnesses to testify against them."

"They were going to use children for sex? That's really sick. Can't believe that would even be on someone's mind, let alone an entire group of…no that's unthinkable. Nothing human about this. Sounds more like what low-level demons might do. Ones you kill all the time."

"Many Leela and I dispatch won't even go that far. Eating a human is most likely on the mind of most demons. I've yet to meet a demon with hentaish pleasure on his mind. Sometimes demons halfway think about raping their food before eating it, but sex is rarely carried out. These men were going that far."

"Roto!" Leela jumps with shock in her eye, "I forgot all about him."

"Roto?" asks Hiei.

"Yeah, we used one of their robots to locate where the fake Vogel was and he helped us see where Rocko was. Where is he?"

"If he's back at the orphanage, then he'd be useful in telling all that happened. He's most likely helping the police now in their investigation."

"Oh, that's…" Leela collapses back to sleep.

"Amazing she doesn't have energy to fly, but enough to argue." Hiei starts undressing her. "I've got an idea to help restore energy."

"So getting her naked has something to do with it? Well don't blame me when she kills you."

"It's nothing like that. I was thinking more of a hot bath. She still has sewer stink on her, plus it'll relax her."

"Leela's not a child. It's not as though you're giving Hiro a bath. This is your future wife…"

"Botan, it's all right," smiles Leela, half awake. She struggles to her feet.

"Angel, you rest. I'll prepare it."

"I like the thought, babe, but it wouldn't be right if you spent all your time preparing it, just to have me pee in it first thing."

"That wouldn't matter, would it?"

"I had planned for you to join me. You stink just as bad as I do." Leela saunters into the bathroom and shuts the door.

"Did you know there's a milk-setting in there?" Botan points out.

"Seriously?"

"After the police left, I couldn't resist. Instead of water, hot milk pours out of the faucet. I could have stayed in that all night. I rarely take milk baths. You can even change the environmental setting. I was bathing in an old Greek temple. I felt like Aphrodite," Botan sighs, closing her eyes.

"Leela likes that. Is there a setting for Japanese hot spring?"

"There might be, I just didn't see one. Maybe it isn't programmed in. A lot of the modes in there are related to old European themes, more so than South-East Asian."

Leela walks back out with a white robe around her body. "I've got the bath started. It'll be a milk bath in an ancient Egyptian palace. The faucet will divide into multiple faucet heads and appear like palace servants."

"What ever happened to a simple soap bath?" he shrugs.

"But this is genetically-enhanced milk, it washes better than soap." Leela takes him by the hand and leads him into the bathroom.

Botan strolls off to the main room and plops herself on the enveloping pillow bed. She touches the wall, letting her hand rest upon a hidden panel. Immediately the tiny door opens and a holographic keypad presents itself. 'Does this room have the same settings the bathtub did?'

She touches an environment-setting program, and it opens into a list of various virtual styles. 'I had a Greek bath. What does sleeping like a goddess feel like?' She swerves her eyes and touches the Greek setting. 'With or without a toga. Since I'm alone here, I'll go wild and say without.' She removes her clothes and crawls into bed naked. Immediately she finds herself in a huge Greek temple. Botan gazes up at four young men wearing white togas around their waists. One of the boys offers her red wine and another torn pita bread soaked in honey. 'If only Spirit World could come up with this.' She sighs, 'This is real paradise.'

Meanwhile in the next room, Leela relaxes with her beloved in the Egyptian milk bath. "I think Botan's found my favorite setting for pampering. Too bad the food is only virtual."

"Yeah, but this is great too."

"You call yourself a king of Demon World, but you don't come off as one. I thought the title would give you a palace with servants waiting on you."

"That's your definition of a king, not mine."

"Come on. Tell me you never had one fantasy in your whole life to be pampered and worshiped. You've had seven of my lifetimes to enjoy that."

"But I had nobody to enjoy it with."

"Then what's left is self-pleasure. I've had my life with that." Leela sinks into the hot milk, letting her hair soak. She opens her eye and gazes at the marble ceiling and peers out at a pyramid in the distance. Men in white linen wraps test the milk's temperature, adjusting the heat if necessary. Two men carry out trays of biscuits drizzled with the finest honey and the fruitiest of red wines for each of them. Two other men stand at both sides of the bath, fanning the pair with peacock fans.

"It's a shame this food is only virtual. The taste is so real. And all this is in your tiny apartment."

"This is what Botan meant about not wanting to leave this. Sometimes I lose track of time in here. But that's why we've got that sundial shaped clock in here. Right now the time is 10:45 PM."

"This milk is…what's with it? There are old scars I've had from the past healing. It's a purity cleanse."

"The milk is full of properties like that. Your skin will come out as smooth and silky like Hiro's. It resorts your skin to almost brand new. Your skin will be soft and your hair like fine silk. It'll keep you smelling nice for days."

"We should do this more often. If it can make even Old Faithful feel young again…then I require a milk bath everyday."

Leela chuckles at him. "See what a little pampering can do, Your Majesty. Now you're not just a king by an election win, you're feeling what it's like. You need a palace of your own, not just sponge off of what Mukuro gave you."

"I'll handle the king thing my own way. But I'll bring the servants for you, my queen."

"Oh live a little, you old demon," Leela smirks, "Sometimes your way sucks."

"That's enough out of you, Missy."

Back in the other room, Botan lies on her stomach while a majestic blonde-headed man wearing a toga stands over her and massages her back. She grins, about half asleep. 'The Greeks sure knew how to live. If only I had been born in their era in their country. Hera, Aphrodite, you goddesses knew how to live.'

Suddenly a knock comes from the front door. "Go away, Zeus. Wait your turn," Botan shouts.

"I'm not Zeus. Where'd you get that, anyway?"

"If you're not him, then who are you? I'm in the middle of this massage by this gorgeous half-naked Greek man."

"Okay better question, where are you? In New York or Athens."

Leela hears Botan from the other room. "Who's making noise at this hour?"

"I don't know. That sounds like Yusuke's voice to me. He's great at breaking up paradise. Stupid idiot."

'Yusuke, is that you,' Leela sighs.

'Yeah, I just wanted to come by…'

'Unless there's a fire in the building, then go away. I already know about tomorrow's stuff.'

'Of course, sorry for the disturbance.'

'He's gone now, Botan. Sorry about that. Continue with your virtual dream.'

"What was that about?"

"I don't know," sighs Leela, "I'm beginning to wonder if him hanging around Fry and Bender is a good idea. Bender's rubbing off on him."

"No, it's just Yusuke doesn't know how to be subtle. He's loud and obnoxious."

"That's how Bender gets too. Loud, rude, and a pain in the ass."

"So should we get out of here? My skin's all cleaned up I think."

"Yeah, besides that noisy dumbass made me wake up. We have a long day tomorrow. I've got an email from Glab. She wants to meet with us first thing, she's even providing us breakfast."

"I want to get up at 6:00 and go back to that temple."

"You want to worship tomorrow? That's so unlike you. Still after all that's happened these last twenty-four hours, I guess I don't blame you. Yesterday, how could we have known the Minaminos would find Ariaco alive or have him brought here?"

"Or that Vogel-guy was going to be killed if…"

"Please, I don't want to think of that. He was like a father to me. I…I don't want to think of him not being here." Leela dashes out the bathroom and flops onto her bed. Flashes of seeing Mr. Vogel being killed before her eye, haunts her mind. "Mr. Vogel, I know that was your decoy they destroyed, but…why…you don't deserve to die, especially not at the hands of those monsters. If…if we got…Mister…" She buries her face in her arms and sobs bitterly.

Hiei approaches the bed in a robe, and touches her nude back. "Leela, I had no…so sorry you had to experience that." He picks her up and holds her in his arms, letting her cry into his robe. "I know…it's okay…I've been through this too."

"With M…Mukuro I know."

"No I mean watching someone you care about being killed in front of your eyes, and you couldn't stop it. Leela, I'm referring to Yusuke's death, his death inside that infernal cave. My friends and I watched him helplessly being killed little by little. It was also very painful to watch Kuwabara's heart being ripped to shreds." He sighs while stroking her long flowing hair with his fingers. "At least this time, you had help from Kurama's shikigami decoys."

"Does this have something to do with Ryuku's release in our time?" she asks with tears dribbling down her face.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps his evil did reach this far in your time. Of course perhaps this era is no different. There are demons here as well. In a city this size, on a planet that accepts all sorts of alien beings, demons wouldn't have to disguise themselves and still they could go unnoticed." She buries her face, continuing to sob.

Amidst her tears, Leela slowly falls asleep. Quietly, Botan saunters back into the room, fully dressed. "How long have you been there? Long enough?"

"Yeah. I was done with the virtual reality stuff for awhile."

"Was that Yusuke's fault?"

"I'm not blaming him for it if it was. I almost ate the pillow in there. Think I want real food rather than simulated."

"Oh sorry she's naked…"

"No need. This is her place. I shouldn't criticize, because I was also naked. I was afraid Yusuke was going to bust the door open and catch me like that."

"Wonder what was on his mind that was so urgent."

"Who knows? Probably was going to tell us what we already know. Leela shut him up with her telepathy."

"I heard her do that." "So what happened up here? The hostage girls."

"You were down on the street still. Didn't you come up?"

"No, after showing those idiots what-for, I went after Leela immediately. I figured she could handle herself, especially with Kurama and that other girl, that Fiery. But, I just…I wanted to make sure."

"Of course, like any lover should do for his mate." Botan sighs and sits at the edge of the bed. "I didn't want to say much, with all that she saw."

"She watched her caretaker getting killed, even though that was a decoy."

"It's a good thing Leela and Kurama went there in time, because…well I didn't want to upset these girls…"

"Botan just say it. What?"

"I met with Mr. Vogel's shinigami. Apparently Koenma sent him down here just incase. Pilot Roland was here incase…"

"Who's he? I never met this Roland."

"He's a newly hired River Styx pilot, from 800 years back. He's got blond hair, blue eyes, stands about Kurama's height, weight and muscle mass are about the same has his too, he dresses in a long white robe, and flies with wings on his back. Roland can only read English and he's got a very thick New York accent."

"That would make sense if he's a pilot for the American side of the world. Different culture, different-looking ferrymen."

"Mr. Vogel was minutes from death. It's like Leela knew that somehow."

"She does talk to the dead, so yeah. She's able to help bridge the link between the dead and the living. She went so far as to call for my mother. Leela invited her here, as if she simply talked on the phone with her. She even went to the edge of the abyss and created safe passage."

"While still alive? How is that even possible for a mortal? The only other human I know who's good at that is Genkai. But it's not like she'd be able to teach that."

"Do you think Koenma knows about this?" inquires Hiei.

"I'm not sure. If he doesn't, then she'll most likely tell him about this. There's nothing wrong for her to do this; in fact, Koenma might allow her to use this trait with the Lieutenant job. The job is still brand new, and he hasn't worked out what bugs there might be or talents unrealized." "It'll definitely make things easy for some individuals. Some dead folks aren't all the way accepted with their passing. Others feel attached or want to make a living loved one understand they are always with them. Great help at funerals and such." "If she acts like a go-between, bridging the dead and the living worlds, then that'd be something."

"Hina," Leela whispers in her sleep, "thanks for waiting."

"Mother already? That was quick."

"I'll leave you two…three I mean…"

'Botan, it's okay,' thinks Leela, 'You want to see this too, right?'

"See the other side? I'm death though. I see it all the time."

'I'll follow you there, Leela. I want to see more of this.'

Hiei lays Leela back on the pillow and closes his eyes. Almost immediately he sees Leela dressed in a light blue kimono standing next to his mother. 'Am I seeing this? Leela how? Mom…uh?'

Leela hugs him. 'It's okay. I saw her walking around here in the between worlds.'

'Son, I've never met a lady quite like this one before. She came to me, so I didn't feel I should return after she went through all this trouble.'

'Ma'am, it's not a big deal. I'm getting used to this. After we left my parents, we cut through the sewers to Central Park.'

'I saw you doing that. It's like you opened the channel and let the spirits be who they were.'

'Fry was always scared of that place. I was at first to, being as haunted as it is. But…'

'Once you're actually talking to dead people, like they were alive, then really there's barely anything to fear, Leela. Were you scared of me, as one of the dead?' asks Hina.

'No, you're not scary. You've got a beautiful spirit. You look like Yukina, which puts me even more at ease. You've even got her temperament.'

'Thank you, Leela. So you like both my children. And my grandkids?'

'Angels, just like you. I wish to adopt Hiro as my son. Do you ever see them, Hiro and Yuki?'

'I show up in their dreams from time to time. I wish I can hold them for real.'

'I'll let you use my body, if you want,' replies Leela. 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'm monopolizing your time. Hiei, I'm sorry about that. When I get caught in…'

'It's all right. I'm still amazed you can do this even. I was checking your body, seeing if you were still attached. I just don't want you to die accidentally.'

'She's fine,' assures Hina, 'As long as she's got a pulse and is breathing normally. Besides she's using her subconscious. It's not like she'll become detached.'

'Babe, I don't even feel myself dying. This is like a really intense dream. Why else did I pee before the bath? I didn't want to wet the bed. If you gotta go, wake up and do it now. I don't want messed-on sheets.'

'I'm fine for now.'

'No you do it now.'

'I said I'm fine.'

'Then would you stop that leg-crossing thing and your ass exercises. It's getting annoying.'

'Oh, I was…' he quickly disappears from the dream and dashes back into the bathroom.

'That's how you handle him?' laughs Hina, 'He never obeys anyone. Not even Mukuro.'

'I've got experience with boys,' Leela sighs, 'You need to be firm with them and let them know who's boss.'

'Is that right? I feel I can entrust my son to you.'

Leela feels Hiei's presents back in the bed. 'You were talking about me. I felt my ears burning and had this sneezing fit.'

'Only the good parts, dear,' reassures Leela.

'So where were we?' Hina tries to think. Leela suddenly feels Botan's presence enter the abyss.

'Leela, I'm sorry. I couldn't wait to have us all return to our era. Was this a secret?'

'No, you're fine. You told Koenma though right.'

'Yeah, I figured you would do something like that,' sighs Hiei, 'So where do you want it, in the…?'

'You're not doing anything to her. Not while I'm alive,' scolds Leela, 'So shut up.'

'Whoa, you got told, son. You're doing a fine job, Leela.'

'Thanks ma'am.'

'Please just call me Hina, the ma'am thing makes me sound old.'

'You're dead, Mom, not old.'

'Hiei, it's the principle of the thing.'

'Dead or alive, nothing changes,' laughs Leela.

'You've got that right,' chuckles Botan, 'You're looking good, Hina. How long has it been?'

'Hard to say, the thing about being dead is you forget what time it is or how long you've been dead for. Koenma's asked me if I wanted to be reincarnated, but I'm not sure if I want to go back. I'm with other ice apparitions so…I think I'm comfortable for now.'

'I've been to Spirit World plenty of times. I really need a watch up there all the time, because it's easy to lose track,' Leela replies.

'I know and for you being mortal, you need time for rest, money for Earthly things, and everything else that binds you to life,' sighs Hina. 'I know Kurama comes up there. He's a demon like my son here and my grandkids. But you, Leela, are one of only a few humans that can cross the River Styx and not be dead by a long shot. You come up there like it's no big deal.'

'A few? Who else does that?'

'Well few is stretching it,' corrects Botan, 'More like anyone who can channel like this.'

'That's what I've been doing this whole time? Crossing over body and all?' asks Leela.

'That's why when you come, you're asked if you're dead,' answers Botan.

'You do that too, body and soul.'

'That's because I'm death. I'm crossing over with passengers all the time. I have this body to appear as normal and human, but that's only my appearance.'

'I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I thought it was nothing more than a business office. Will I be found out about…'

'Leela, it's not a big deal. Who's going to punish you? King Yama already knows you do this and he's requested your help. He wants you on board. There are no humans up there, none alive anyways. Having you there puts him in reality mode.'

Leela slowly feels Koenma's presence enter the zone. 'Nice seeing you here.'

'I was going to surprise you, while you were lost in thought.'

'Your usual crap doesn't work on Leela, idiot,' replies Hiei, 'I've tried it too.'

'So even in a dream, she can still read someone's mind. I also heard from someone here, she's also able to open channels at will. Just be careful you don't open evil channels.'

'I know by sensing which are to heaven and which are for hell, Koenma.'

'We were going wait and return, but I couldn't wait for that,' sighs Botan, 'So what's Spirit World like in this era?'

'Same as always. Same ogres, same kind of work. Less mess on the desks though, most of the work is all done on disks.'

'That figures with this era,' replies Leela, 'Hardly anything done on paper and everything's automatic.'

'One thing changed is we've got robots helping the ogres.'

'That's what I mean, Koenma. Robots help with much of the labor on Earth, so it stands to reason why there would be robots in Spirit World now.'

'So what happened after 1000 years of absence? It must have been such a long time…'

'Botan, relax,' reassures Leela, 'It won't matter because we'll return to your era.'

'She's right,' replies Koenma, 'The part with you all time leaping is blank. There's nothing in the lineage or records. In fact you've got time-coating which makes all records seem as though you didn't leave.'

'What's going to happen to Ariaco then? He's from this era.'

'So are you, Leela. Did anything happen to you in our era, other than the spiritual awareness?' asks Koenma.

'Not really. It felt the same back then as it does now.'

'So it shouldn't matter to Ariaco,' assures Koenma, 'That'll be one more name added to records.'

'I didn't know there were such things as time-coating,' shrugs Botan.

'It's undetectable, invisible to you and to those around you, and you wouldn't even know it had existed if I hadn't told you. What it really means is though you are in the 31st century, there's a barrier that shields you from aging, death from old age, and illnesses that contribute to old age. It especially protects any humans with you, like Shizuru and Keiko, who would otherwise be affected after the 1000-year leap forward.'

'Is the same true for mortals from this era, like Leela and Ariaco?' asks Hiei, 'In our time, they haven't been born yet, nor have their ancestors.'

'There are no prebirth effects from their leap back. Again that's because of the time coat. That would also apply if Leela were to bear Hiei's children. They would have time coats.'

'They would be demons though, right? Would they not need it?'

'Here's the thing; all this means is you will age at your normal rate, despite time leaps. That's all. It doesn't mean it'll shield you from death by other means.'

'Understood,' sighs Leela.

'Say, Leela, does this meeting make you tired at all?' asks Hina, 'I can't get tired anymore, but I know you and Hiei are living beings.'

'Our bodies are still relaxed and asleep. Babe, would you wake up for a few seconds and see what time it is?'

Hiei complies and disappears from the dream. 'It's still dark out. We've only been asleep for two hours.'

'It just gets disorienting in spirit form,' replies Leela, shrugging her shoulders.

'What do you think it's like being dead?' asks Hina, 'I asked you, Leela, because one of the drawbacks for being dead is you have no sense of time.'

'Same goes for working in Spirit World,' says Koenma, 'Which reminds me…Leela you're welcome to work in Spirit World, in fact you're hired the minute you go back to the 21st century. Please tell me at that time you want the job, because I won't know. I promise to set up an office for you with Tokyo's time set on your clock. You are also welcome to bring anything that reminds you or me what the time is.'

'I was planning to do that, but don't you have one already?'

'Yes, but the more clocks we have, the better. I really don't need the clock, because I'm immortal.'

'You still have bodily needs, like eating, sleeping, and bathroom breaks,' reminds Leela.

'True but the hours between those needs can be as long as a full day. Besides I'm more concerned about your needs. You'll have the shortest stamina up there, being all mortal and human. You'll have to be the one to determine when you arrive for work, when scheduled breaks should be, and when to leave, so I don't make you do overtime. Overtime in Spirit World could be three weeks solid with no breaks.'

'I see, so I'm in charge of scheduling my own time.'

'I'll also have to arrange break rooms and install a private washroom for you. That wouldn't take long at all though.'

'You didn't do that for Yusuke when he worked for you,' recalls Botan.

'That was an entirely different scenario. It wasn't like he was looking at this job like a new career move, and he wasn't thinking about his future at the time. Besides he was a fourteen-year-old kid with more balls than brains. Leela's a different matter completely.'

'For once, Koenma's right,' snickers Hiei, 'If you hired her as a spirit detective, she would most likely live up to the name sake and will still be working for you now. Plus, I can tolerate her more.'

'Tolerate! Is that all? Well after all this time…' Leela remarks in a fake snuff, crossing her arms.

'I didn't mean it like that. If someone were to ask which spirit detective I'd kiss, you would win the kiss infinite times over.'

'That's better. Why would you be given that option anyways?'

'I wouldn't even give the asker the option to say that. Besides I've already seen two guys in love with each other. Just seeing the relationship first hand grossed me out.'

'Wait it's not…' Koenma starts asking.

'Koenma, no,' interrupts Leela, 'I know what you were thinking now. Are Bender and Fry gay? Those two are not even like that. Bender is into fembots and Fry is into women. Fry's dated me numerous times as well as other women. Bender's in love with Lucy Lui's head and is a real playboy because of his programming.'

'Well thanks for clearing the air on that non-rumor,' smirks Hiei, 'Like I didn't know that. I meant the crap back in the cave 1014 years ago. Those guys were gay.'

'Babe, what does it matter anyways? It's got nothing to do with you. You're straight and dating Mukuro, and then me is proof of that. The only "guy" you love is your baby, Hiro.'

'Yeah, and I'm missing him already. When we get back, I'm spending every moment with him, making up for this lost time.'

'It's not like he knows you're not there this minute or this week.'

'And I see him in his dreams,' replies Hina, 'and so far he's got happy dreams of you and Leela. He's already thinking of you as his mom. I want to be there when he says his first words.'

'You will, Hina,' promises Leela, 'I'll even let you into my body if you want to hold him.'

'Just don't stay in her body too long,' reminds Koenma, 'The longer the possession, the more strained Leela's body will become. I'll advise against this now, if at some point Leela is pregnant, that would be ill advised. Her body would be strained enough at that point.'

'I understand that. After all, I am a mother of twins,' sighs Hina. 'Leela, I hate to ask again but what time is it?'

'I'll look this time, hang on,' Leela opens her eye slowly and sees daylight start to emerge into the living world. She looks at the time on her wristband, reading 0530. Immediately, she checks her partner, watching him sleeping soundly. She lies back and falls to sleep again.

'Did anyone tell you how cute you are asleep, Hiei?' swoons Leela, 'You look like Hiro.'

'Thank you, angel-girl,' he swoons back at her, 'What time is it though?'

'I'm sorry. We didn't get to that dream I promised you. It's 5:30 now, the sun is starting to rise.'

'So I suppose we're done here,' shrugs Botan. 'I'll get up now because my body's calling me.' She quickly disappears out of the dream.

'Right that's one of the benefits to being dead. No mortal body to keep me from things.'

'I'm next after Botan,' announces Hiei, 'Plus I'm hungry.'

'That's my point. Benefits of being dead is you don't get hungry or thirsty or have to pee.'

'Or sleep,' Koenma comments further, 'That's why I've told Leela I'm going to have all that installed close to her office.'

'I get an office?' she chimes.

'You get that. Right next to mine. It's not as big, but then you don't have my dad behind you.'

'I don't care about the size. Will I be helping with your case loads too?'

'That one reason I want you there, and Dad has seen you at your best in the Living World. He says he wants you there to work. There's nothing in your family history that would make him reject you. All there are, are psychics.'

'Hina, you say you got benefits from being dead, but being alive has it's advantages too,' sighs Leela, 'If you had a body, then you would see your children and grandchildren for real.'

'It feels comfortable this way. But what's done is done, besides what would they do to me if I were to live…I birthed a son which was a crime for my people.'

'What was more of a crime was throwing him away then you killing yourself,' Leela shouts, starting to cry, 'You've served your due, right? I don't understand why you want to be further punished.'

'Leela, I've never heard that. None of my fellow ice apparitions saw it…'

'Hina, they were idiots. They were the worst kind of people…I'm sorry…I didn't mean for the outburst or insulting your people like that. I just wish you could give it a second chance.'

'That's what I've been trying to tell you, Hina,' replies Koenma, 'I can even create a body for you, similar to what Botan has.'

'I don't know, what if…I can't go through that painful…' Hina shakes her head, while Leela walks over to her. She wraps her arms around the ice apparition's shoulders.

'You did nothing wrong. Your children turned out fine. If it weren't for you bearing a son, I wouldn't have met him. He's a wonderful man and the love of my life. He's even better than any human men I've dated. He's very attractive, friendly, sexy, great kisser, and someone I want in a husband someday. I want to stay with him and bear his children. If you never had him, I wouldn't have thoughts of having you for a mother-in-law. I know Hiro and Yuki need a grandmother they can see. I know my…our future kids will want to know who you are. What do you say?' tears pour from Leela's eye.

'Leela, I just…I…don't…perhaps I'll take you up on that.' Hina holds Leela tightly in the embrace. Heraseki stones start falling from Hina's eyes.

'Leela, ask me again in the 21st century and I'll see what can do,' sighs Koenma.

'Leela, I don't…hold on,' Hiei quickly disappears from the dream and opens his eyes. Botan walks out of the bathroom, brushing her hair with a borrowed hairbrush. She watches him blink his eyes, trying to brush tears from his face. He stares blankly into space trying to collect his thought.

"What's wrong?" Botan asks.

Hiei looks back at Leela sleeping beside him. "She's wanting…she just asked for my mother's second chance. Leela wants her alive."

"Leela wants Hina alive? When did this happen?"

"She told Mom that just now. She wants Koenma to create a body like you have, and let Mom control it for real."

"That's a good thing, right? She wants Hina back in your life. What a gift for you. She's been wanting to get you a present, and what a way to…" Leela starts waking up too.

"Is that session over?" asks Hiei. Leela nods and looks at him in the eyes.

"I just want what's best for you, both for you and your mom's sake. I don't understand why it had to take this long or why she had to die, but…isn't a second chance better than nothing? What's so great about being dead anyways?"

"You think after 1700 years this resurrection would work?" asks Botan.

"Try 700," corrects Leela, "He asked me to see him immediately after our return. If we want, that can happen sooner than what was said initially."

"Well, what time is it?" asks Hiei.

"6:15," answers Leela, looking at her wristband, "The breakfast with Glab is at 8:30 up at the Renewed DOOP Headquarters by the Neutral Planet. If you're okay with a little space travel…"

"I'll be ready…but first…" he dashes quickly into the bathroom.

"So we're going back out into space again," sighs Botan.

"You make it sound like a chore. It's no different than flying on that oar of yours. Is that a chore?"

"Oh, okay but what about Ariaco? Would that scare him?"

"His people travel in space all the time. They'll travel after making the new Porko system their permanent home. Space travel is just a way of life here."


	37. Chapter 37

"Oh man, I didn't think I'd be getting out of there," sighs Hiei walking back into the room.

"You were in there for ten minutes."

"That's how long it took me. Spirit trips like that make you forget everything."

"Why did I ask you to go before dreaming something like that? I didn't want you wetting my sheets."

"I was still amazed how you could reach Hina like that."

"Talking to her was one thing. Giving her a hug and praising her for having me…I was about to cry from that. Mom had never been asked to participate in my life. I don't know what…Mom alive again…can it really happen though? Sounds to good to be true."

"Yes it does, but then again you've got a woman willing to live up to her promises. Not only that but also is volunteering to work for Spirit World."

"I just want to contribute what I can…I wonder how long I can continue talking to the dead."

"I don't know," sighs Botan, "Perhaps having a living human there will make recently deceased souls feel more relaxed about the other side. I run across some cases where someone wasn't really ready to go, not emotionally anyways. A lot of cases involving young humans are especially harsh."

"Besides King Yama is always looking for a reason to destroy the Earth, killing innocent lives. Perhaps having you there, Leela, will keep him in better perspective."

"I gotta go," Leela sighs, as she stands up from the bed, "Oh, I forgot I was nude." Leela quickly wraps her body in the top layer of bed sheets.

"You were dressed in the dream. But now…you have to go."

"Why are you giving me that sad look, guys? I meant to the bathroom," Leela chimes, letting the door close behind her.

"Could it really work? After all this time, Mom comes back to me… I…just…Mukuro never offered that. She never asked to have my mother return to the world of the living. Mom…I," Hiei mumbles, as tears pool in his eyes, "What will I say to her if it really happens? Can it really work?" He sits on his side of the bed, rocking, trying to snuffle his tears back.

"It could work," sighs Botan, "She would most likely get a body like mine." "I've got to say, Leela really has it for you. To go this far, talking to the dead like if she was gossiping across a fence, this is beyond what I thought anyone from the living world could do."

"She's an amazing woman. I don't what I'd do if…I wouldn't have this. If she…she never came along…then Mom wouldn't have considered that."

"I'm sure she was thinking about it, but maybe needed the push from someone who really cares about you, and is willing to do what she can to make you happy. Leela is that someone."

"Yes. I know that much. Never in my dreams before…someone I lost from the beginning. Mom gave me the gift of life and for her to receive the same gift in return…is this…can't be…" He shakes his head and covers his eyes with his hands. "Just like that, my life as an orphan draws to an end. That's what it took, the warm heart of a human? Not a demon, but a human. Is that all it took, Botan?"

"You claim to hate the human world, but that's what humans are like," comments Leela, walking into the room, "It's human nature to care for someone. We fight the hardest when it means to save someone's life, we love as hard as we can those around us, and it doesn't matter what sins you've made in the past because humans are forgivers and second-chancers. I don't love you because I'm obligated to, it's because I care about you and want to see you happy. If it means seeing your mom again in this life, then I'm willing to do what it takes to help her. She deserves a second chance and so do you."

Leela walks over to the bed and holds Hiei in her arms. "Please, I want to do this," she begs, holding him tightly.

"Happiness?" tears dribble down his face. He holds on to her, trying to keep from crying further, "True happiness. Death from my lonely orphaned life. To be reborn with a mother there…I…" His voice trails as he holds her tighter, with tears flowing down his face and onto Leela's bra and bare stomach.

"First thing I do when we get back is give Koenma the okay in forging a body for her," Leela sighs.

"I thought top priority would be to kill Ryuku," ponders Botan.

"Ryuku only takes lives away. I want this life returned, and Hina's resurrection exceeds Ryuku in priorities."

Leela closes her eye and kisses the top of her mate's head, sniffing in the sweet milky smell. She sits partially on his lap, trying to brush the tears from his face with her fingers. "We'll get her back. Have I ever broken a promise to you?" He stares into her eye, but says nothing. Leela smiles at him and kisses his quivering lips.

Slowly he pulls away first, this time with dry eyes. "You think we should get ready?"

"Yeah. All we really need is to get dressed."

"Is this a formal thing, this breakfast?" asks Botan.

"Not really. I've got a sundress I've been wanting to wear. I bought back in January, just never had the occasion to wear it."

"So now is? This breakfast is really that special? What should I wear then?"

"Whatever you want." Leela walks over to her closet and pulls out a blue-and-white plaid sundress. "I was also thinking this afternoon we could picnic at the park. I know it'd be a good thing for Ariaco. I'm thinking about asking the Conrads to join us, so Ariaco has someone, like Dwight, to play with."

"A day after a major war?" asks Hiei, with a confused expression on his face.

"You'll be surprised how quickly a planet repairs itself after war. Overnight cleanups are common in this era. City robot workers hardly sleep, as long as they are kept nourished with healthy doses of alcohol."

"If only humans can evolve into robots," sighs Botan, "One of these days, I'll have to take Atsuko, that if she doesn't quit drinking."

"Who's that? She sounds familiar."

"Yusuke's mother," answers Hiei, "He's always telling her she's going to drink herself into a grave. She had a cancer scare too, though it was unrelated to her drinking."

"I've got a fear I'll be taking her," sighs Botan, "All it takes is just one instance."

Leela shakes her head and smacks her hands together. "No, I'm not in the mood for a downer day. We've saved lives all day yesterday, so today should be the day to relax. I want to go back to Mac's shop and get headgear, for our thing."

"Oh yeah. I want to show you Ryuku and Notaku to see what we're up against. You saw him in that dream I gave you, and I know Kurama remembers him."

"I know, but that's all on the list. Have you seen him, Botan?"

"I saw him, but there wasn't much I could do back then, plus I was still an apprentice. I hadn't completely taken my role as Death yet."

"Is that why you're wearing a sundress?"

"Well since we're only seeing what it was like, what you're wearing won't matter." Leela carries the dress into the bathroom for a few minutes then reemerges with it draped on her body.

"That's cute. Can I borrow something?" asks Botan, "My clothes from yesterday. I put them in the…"

"You're my size, so go ahead. I don't care."

"Don't suppose…"

"Babe, I've got you covered. There are things of Fry's left in here in the closet. There are also liquid fabric cans in the drawers in the dresser. Pick which colors suit you best." Leela starts walking towards the door, "I'm going next door and see if all are up."

Leela turns and strolls to the front door of her apartment, just as she hears a knock. "Oh, Kurama, it's you. I was about to check on you."

"So was I. I was hearing someone talking in their sleep last night."

"You may have, I was in the middle of a meeting with Hina."

"Hina? Hiei's mother was in your dream?"

"I invited her to come last night. Botan and Koenma joined in the dream as well."

"That was a dream? Sounds less like a dream and more like a spiritual conference. Your physical bodies were asleep, weren't they?"

"Yes, but it was like we were talking to Hina like if we met in a virtual chatroom." "Oh, I'm sorry for making you stand out in the hallway, please come in and sit."

"Hey, I've got ask. There's something about you today that's different. I didn't know if it was your dress or your scent that's different."

"I can explain about the scent, and I'm not the only one who smells like sweet milk. This apartment had a milk bath last night. Your bathtub is equipped with that feature. Genetically enhanced milk that never goes sour and cleans your body much better than soap. Also your tub and the main room are equipped with virtual environmental options. Where ever you want to bathe or sleep. Botan went with the full ancient Greek theme, while Hiei and I bathed like pharaohs in ancient Egypt. The robots simulate everything to tempt the palette or sooth your body."

"Okay, I get it. You want Shizuru to stay here even more. Is the milk bath scented?"

"It can be. I set Hiei's and mine for a light citrus-scent."

"That's what I was smelling. I thought you peeled an orange in here."

"More like opened a box of dream-cicles. Is it too strong?"

"Not at all. However you might have Shizuru turning a little green."

"Then here's an idea for tonight." "So what's going on now? How was Ariaco's night last night?"

"Well it's what I guess you'd expect being orphaned this quickly and being made to live in a foreign place. He was up half the night wanting to see his mother. I know we can take care of him, but I think it'll take him a long time to adjust."

"I wonder if we couldn't arrange a funeral for his parents or something. I could also have him in my dreams tonight so he can see his family again."

"With your ability to invite dead souls into your dreams, maybe that kind of closer wouldn't hurt. That might even the best way to handle this adjustment."

"Well I'm trying to make things benefit for the dead. I've asked Hina to have Koenma give her a second chance."

"You want to bring her back to life? I know Koenma has that power. He can create an exact likeness of her spirit. It'll be the same kind of body Botan has."

"She was punished in the cruelest of ways for bearing her son, and both Hina and Hiei deserve better than what they got. They deserve a better life. I hope this is okay for her to come back. Is there any laws preventing her resurrection? I don't care if there are, and I'll accept the punishment…"

"There are no laws against bringing someone back to life. Leela, this is what I believe King Yama wants you for. Why he's allowing Koenma to hire you. Your desire to create the ability for the dead and the living to exist on happy terms, which ever they may be, are what's mostly required in hiring you. It's not just on sending to hell any demons wanting to bring about destruction of the human race, but you're more interested in saving those you can from evil."

"Oh there you are, dear," chimes Shizuru, as she peeks her head in the doorway. Leela sees her with Ariaco wrapped around her legs with a shy, sad expression on his face. He darts his eyes at Leela while sucking on one of his finger-like hooves.

"Hey, Ariaco. How are you?" chimes Leela. Ariaco just looks at her, but doesn't say anything. "I heard you had a hard time last night. It's okay. I understand what it's like to stay somewhere that's not home."

"He wasn't sleeping well. He cried half the night."

"I know. I was just told about that. Perhaps tonight I could help you all. Let him see his parents again."

"You're serious?" asks Shizuru, "You can let his family see him?"

"Leela's able to talk to the dead. She's trying to reunite Hiei with his mother."

"I know Koenma's able to do that, but Leela? You're able to connect the living and the dead?"

"I did that earlier last night. I allowed Hina to possess my mother for a brief moment to give him a hug."

"That's what I was telling you about. Later on both she and Hiei walked through Old Central Park and she was able to connect with the spirits there and was even able to walk through their world."

"That's a talent shared only by a handful of psychics," ponders Shizuru, shaking her head, "I know Genkai can do something like that."

"Yeah, but she's been dead before. Leela hasn't. It's not like Koenma gave her that power. This an inherited ability."

"I think it's coming from Mom's side," suggests Leela. "Her ability to have Hina take over her body, even just for an instance, is evident of her awareness to the supernatural. Dad's connections aren't as vivid."

"It could also be Hina's feelings and your mom's were also on par last night," shrugs Shizuru.

"Last night, I was so afraid the noise in the hallway would wake you up. Sounded like Yusuke had a little drink with someone."

"While the police came by and were busy with that gang, Fry and Bender asked him out for a beer."

"That figures. Those two are dangerous like that, especially Bender. Being the new man in town, it'd be so easy to get caught up in their crap. That's where the rubbing-off crap starts."

"I heard it was more than just a bar. A strip club," replies Kurama, "That's why I was asking where the talking was coming from. I couldn't figure out which apartment."

"He was knocking on my door," replies Leela, "All three of us were in the middle of private virtual fantasies when he interrupted. I told him telepathically to go away."

"I know Keiko wasn't pleased about his rudeness. She had a few choice words for him," snickers Shizuru.

"I know I didn't hear anything from her. That must have been when all three of us were in that spiritual meeting with Hina and Koenma. I'm more interested in reuniting mother and son."

Leela hears a small tap on the hallway wall, "Morning Keiko. By yourself?"

"It'll be just me this morning. Yusuke's not feeling well."

"I can guess from last night. That's the price from partying with my idiot friends," laughs Leela, "I've got something in my medicine cabinet to clear up hangovers. He's guaranteed to feel better later on this morning."

"Will it settle his stomach? That's what's really bothering him."

"Takes care of everything. I'll go get it right now." Leela stands and walks hastily back through her bedroom to the opened bathroom, where she sees Botan checking her face in the mirror. "Pardon me, one of our neighbors has a touch of hangover."

"Would that be the idiot who was knocking on the door?" Leela nods and taps a button on the bottom right corner of the mirror, opening it from the center to all four corners, instantly. She reaches in for a purple prism bottle and presses the button again, closing up the mirror.

"Like I said, Bender and Fry are too dangerous for the rubbing-off crap. How much are you willing to bet Bender didn't challenge Yusuke to a drink-off?"

"That's playing dirty, especially when robots live on alcohol."

Leela walks back out to the main room and hands the bottle to Keiko. "Is that medicine for hangovers? There aren't any pills in it, just a liquid."

"A pill? You don't eat this stuff, you inhale it. This is vapor rub enriched with tiny micro-bots."

"That's similar to the stuff we rubbed on McLark's legs," comments Keiko, "The same company that makes that cream also makes hangover medicine?"

"Well idea is to get the medicine into affected areas quickly. This way it doesn't further induce vomiting."

"That's great because he's doing that," she immediately exits the room and dashes to back to her own.

"So, I guess we head downstairs. The name of the game is get to Planet Express however you wish. I'm driving there, only because I decided to wear a sundress. If you're adventurous, space tubes are fun. It's just meet you at Planet Express in a few minutes."

Leela heads for the elevator, when the doors open and she sees Fry standing inside. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry we got carried away last night. I just wanted to…how's he doing?"

"Fry, what were you guys expecting? Holding his liquor isn't something Yusuke's good at."

"I know, so I just wanted to make it up by bringing the ship here."

"You mean it's downstairs? That was a break. We were just about to head for the building." "So to the ship," Leela shrugs.

The group heads downstairs to the first floor, and proceed to the middle of the street, where the Planet Express ship had landed. Leela steps on board first to see the ship filled with the rest of the staff. "You're all coming? I thought this was a simple breakfast?"

"Not at all," replies the Professor.

"We're here because she's…hey cut it out, Bender," pipes Amy.

"It wasn't me," Bender denies, innocently, while still kicking the back of Amy's seat.

"Do you think we can fit in here?" asks Keiko.

"You know how big it is, so yeah."

"Hey where's my drinking buddy?" asks Bender.

"Your 'buddy' is sick because of you," scolds Leela.

"Not my fault. I'm not the one who made him pass out at the dance club, or made him shoot meat loogies out his mouth plate. He…he wanted to do that. Plus it wasn't boring."

"Bender, you're the one that challenged him to a drink-off," grumbles Keiko, "I could have told you drinking isn't his thing."

Leela climbs into the pilot seat as she waits for everyone to board. "Babe, are you all right? You look tense."

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," replies Fry.

"I wasn't asking you. You're not mine anymore."

"Right, besides I'm in love with Fiery."

Leela fires the rocket boosters and lifts off quickly into space.

"What's with the dress today?" asks Fry.

"Yeah, hardly see you wearing one," agrees Amy.

"No reason. I bought it this last winter but haven't had a chance to wear it."

"I thought it was to impress…?" asks Amy in an alluring voice.

"She impressed me more last night, in that dream we had," answers Hiei.

"Was it a romantic dream?" presses Amy, "I was in one last night with Kiffy."

"Aw how sweet. What did you dream about?" asks Leela.

"Well it was in this magical place where we rode in a carriage pulled by my pony, Spirit. We were in this candy-themed planet, where everything was sweet."

"Oh my, you're making me hungry just hearing about that," replies Leela.

"Yeah, what Leela said," agrees Shizuru.

"You and your candy dreams, bah," snuffs Zoidberg, "That was nothing like what I dreamt about last night. I was scoring on the beach, back on Decapod 10 with Lucille, Edna's daughter."

"Ooh a sex dream," chimes Kurama. "Super…"

"Will you two can it? Ariaco doesn't need to hear about that," scolds Shizuru, "He's still a little kid, remember?"

"Hear about what?" pipes Ariaco.

"It's just grown up talk. Nothing more than that."

"He'll have to know eventually," sighs Leela, "The way pigs are, the sooner the better."

"I know that. I want to talk to him about how things are done," replies Shizuru.

"Mrs. Minamino, are we there yet?"

"Ask Ms. Leela. She's the one piloting this thing."

"We shouldn't be too long. DOOP Headquarters is only thirty minutes from Earth."

"Oh I…mmph," moans Ariaco.

"You gotta go." Ariaco nods his head. Shizuru picks him up and carries him back to Leela's cabin.

"He was doing that all night as well," sighs Kurama. "He had to get up at least five times to pee. His king is right about his bladder being small."

"Either that or he's got an infection. Given the conditions on his old planet, either one could be the case," explains Leela.

"If it's that case, then we'll have him see a urologist."

"There's one in town if you can't wait to go back to Tokyo."

"I should know. Mine gives me lollypops," chimes the Professor.

"I thought I, Zoidberg, was your only doctor. Are you seeing other doctors behind my back?"

"Do you even know anything about human anatomy?" asks Kurama.

"Yeah and you're missing an ink pouch and dorsal fin."

"That's for a fish's anatomy, not a human's."

"But you need the ink pouch to escape your enemies. Don't worry, I'll install a spare pouch from my stash."

"Don't you mean implant? Besides I don't want it."

"Fine, just don't come crying to Zoidberg when you're in trouble," Zoidberg snuffs, crossing his claws.

"Zoidberg, he's got his own means of escape," explains Leela, "His way is a smokescreen."

"Smokescreen? What sort of gland makes that?" asks Zoidberg.

"I know how make a smokescreen," replies Bender.

"You do not," retorts Leela.

"Do so! All I need is a bunch of cigars and a keg of booze…then I can make the best kind of smokescreen ever."

"That's not how a smokescreen is made," sighs Kurama.

"It is too. You watch, the smoke will come out of my exhaust vent." Bender bends down and points to his ass plate.

"That's a fart, dumbass," snips Hiei.

"Yes, that's what a smokescreen is, isn't it?"

"That's not what he means, Bender," sighs Leela, "Kurama can create a smokescreen without help from booze or smokes. It's just a power he has. The idea isn't only to escape your enemy, but cause him confusion in the process. He can even attack the enemy without being seen."

"Without booze! No way can that work. You have to use booze, otherwise you can't make it stink."

"That's not the idea, Bender. Making it stink wouldn't work. That would only make me pass out."

"No use arguing with him, Kurama. It's obvious that this metal man is a…"

"Chill it," interrupts Leela, "You insulting Bender won't end this argument."

"Oh good," smiles Keiko, "I just got email from Yusuke that he's feeling better."

"I knew that hangover wouldn't last long. If he wants, I could ask Fiery to pick him up, if he's still interested in this breakfast."

"That was quick. Nothing we have acts that fast," replies Kurama.

"Yeah, he says he's 100 percent and starving."

Leela nods and patches through to Fiery's email. "Hey girlfriend."

"Leela, it's you. I'm just on my way out the door."

"I knew you were. I've got a small favor for you. We had a straggler this morning. He's back at the apartments."

"A straggler. You mean that guy at McDrake's. Fry told me he took him out for drinks."

"He didn't have to throw up in my car," grumbles Fry, "How was I supposed to know Yusuke couldn't hold booze well?"

"Fry, don't talk," scolds Fiery, "You weren't anybody's company in bed last night. You kept calling me Leela on top of that."

"You look like Leela."

"I look nothing like Leela," steams Fiery, "For one thing she's a natural-born cyclops."

"Never mind this. Could you please pick up Yusuke for me?"

"Of course, just give me directions to your place." Leela nods and sends her the coordinates. "Oh that's not far from me. Tell him I'll be there in a few, or you can give me his email address."

"So we'll see you in thirty minutes," shrugs Keiko.

"Fiery's ship moves faster than this one," explains Leela, "It'll take her a mere five minutes to get to the Neutral Planet."

"Where is this planet?" asks Keiko, searching the endless space for it.

"Straight ahead, see that blue planet straight ahead."

"That's Earth, right?"

"Earth in appearance, lots of planets are like that. But that's the Neutral Planet. DOOP Headquarters is actually orbiting it. That's where we're heading."

"Didn't Zapp destroy it?" asks Fry.

"Yeah but they rebuilt it," answers Amy, "Don't you remember the news report back last October? My parents helped with the funding."

Leela pilots the ship towards the loading port and lands inside. "Hey Leela," whispers Fry, "There's some pig guy at the entrance to the main hall." He points out a tall 5' 11" brown pig wearing a black business suit and a chest-long red necktie.

"Some guy? That's all you can say?" remarks Leela, "That's Ringwald Hogart. He's Porso's prime minister. You've met him on several occasions, one of which was during last year's Space Olympics. You know after the first war."

"Oh yeah," recalls Fry, "He kept talking about his kid's Boar-mitzpha."

"We went to the Boar-mitzpha, Fry," recalls Bender, "You came home as fat as a…well you know."

"If they didn't have all that free food, then I wouldn't have been so fat."

"Fry, all you ever do is eat," scolds Leela, "You're going to end up as huge as a worm."

Leela strolls down the ramp and walks straight over to Ringwald. "Good morning, Prime Minister."

"Leela, it's you. It's been how long since we've talked last?"

"Last year after the first war, as I recall. I remember you saying your planet was in turmoil. Your soldiers attacked Earth back then for the same reason."

"That's how you Earthicans wanted to make it look. Truth was we wanted to find a solution without going to war. We were willing to negotiate with Earth to let us pass, but Zapp refused to negotiate. He said war was the only solution."

Leela sighs and laughs sheepishly. "As smart as you guys are, you should know better than to turn to Zapp for diplomatic talks. He's never interested in peace talks. He loves war."

"We had no other choice, it was either talk to him or talk to our neighboring planetary system, Omicron."

"So talk to an idiot or a bully," sighs Leela.

Ringwald notices several of Leela's guests emerge from the ship. "You've brought…wow a large party with you. I know everyone from Planet Express." He glances at Fry and Amy. "Hey Fry, nice seeing you again."

"Same here, I guess…"

"Ringwald, you know…" replies the prime minister.

"Oh yeah. You were the one with that young wife, Lacey. Is she here?"

Ringwald shakes his head and sighs with sadness in his breath. "She's…she's…"

"How long ago?" sighs Leela in a sympathetic tone.

"Three weeks ago. It was the plague that got her too. The apocalyptic one."

"So sorry," replies Leela.

"When I was told one of your friends saved one of our young ones…" Ringwald catches sight of Shizuru carrying Ariaco in her arms. "So this is the boy you rescued." Ariaco darts his eyes nervously toward Ringwald then hides his face quickly in Shizuru's chest.

"What are you shy for?" Shizuru asks.

"Typical reaction," assures Ringwald.

"He's probably still tired. After I took him to your bathroom, Leela, Ariaco went to sleep. I spent the rest of the time in your cabin watching him sleep."

"As I told you earlier, Zoidberg," sighs Kurama looking at the lobster doctor, "Your expertise lies in fish anatomy."

"Why not? What if you go swimming to the ocean floor?"

"Then I'll use an air tank. Gills on a human won't work and I'm not interested in having them."

"They work better than those air bladders of yours."

"Air bladders? Lungs are what they're called."

"Fine, but the next time you are down at the bottom and drowning, don't come crying to me."

"Trust me, I have no desire to deep-sea dive anyways. I can't with a job and three kids to support."

Keiko walks with Amy and Bender. "So have you got any plans for after the wedding?"

"Sure," chimes Amy, "Kiffy and I are spending it aboard the Nimbus. He has the holographic room all set up and this time the entire system has been upgraded. Now there's no chance for the characters turning real."

"That's fixed now? What was the problem?" asks Bender.

"Software error. Now we have Windows 3000 XP."

"So you dare blame the computer. What makes you superior, human?"

"Computers aren't always reliable," sighs Keiko, "I've had my whole office at school shutdown because of some bug with the software. It turned out to be a virus someone made to prevent any negative grades to be entered. We think it was some dishonest parent's doing. We have at least ten suspects. One woman is a real problem. She blames the teachers for any D's or F's her children get."

"So you've got idiot parents to deal with," sighs Hiei, butting into the conversation.

"I know some of these people from when I was a student at Saranaski. Kia was a cheater in her school days and now she's passed her habits to her two boys. Her oldest son is in the martial arts class Yusuke teaches and is on the verge of being kicked out for poor grades. He's like his mom at cheating to get ahead."

"Has he ever been caught?" asks Amy.

"He has been a few times, but punishing him doesn't solve the problem."

"Can't you suspend him or something?" asks Amy, "You're the school principal."

"Yeah I did that a few times and all that did was I had Kia breathing down my neck."

"What are you scared of that idiot woman for?" asks Hiei, "You don't come off as a wuss. I would make this Kia bitch do what you say."

"Oh like how you make Leela do anything. Since when does that happen? That shoe is on her foot."

"That's because I let her. That's the only reason."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," Keiko sighs with a slight chuckle, "That woman has you wrapped around her pinky finger. As I recall, you use to threaten Botan's life. Now Leela-sama doesn't let you do that anymore."

"She…that little bitch ca…" Suddenly Hiei drops his words and shifts his focus.

"Ah, what happened, did she cut you off?" asks Keiko.

"N…no, this is just pointless. Besides, I love her too much."

"Oh really?" Keiko lowers her brow, "You're not fooling anyone. Your lying leaves much to be desired."

"How did she do that?" asks Amy.

"Telepathy. These two talk to each other through thought. I can't do something like that."

"Oh I can do that. I never used it because nobody's asked me about it."

"And I can do that with my antenna," boasts Bender.

"No duh, Bender," sighs Amy, "Robots are programmed to talk to each other like that."

Botan glances out the landing port and gazes at the Neutral Planet. She walks up toward Leela, Shizuru, and Fry. "I've…this planet looks like Earth. But…"

"You're orbiting the Neutral Planet. This is the DOOP Headquarters," replies Leela.

"This place…this satellite is so huge."

"You were expecting a tiny object? That's not what orbits around planets anymore. This place can host 100,000 guests if Glab wants it."

"So what sort of thing are we here for?" asks Fry.

"Breakfast for you Earthicans," answers Ringwald, "King Porso invited you up here and Glab accepted."

"All of us, sir?" asks Shizuru.

"And you're missing two guests," Ringwald points out.

"I'm sorry, sir," apologizes Keiko, bowing to the prime minister, "My husband had a very bad hangover this morning. He and this Fiery-san will be by shortly."

"Fiery Kokoro?" asks Ringwald, "I know her. She's been living on Old Porko for a few years yet. I say she plays a mean hand of Earth Poker. I've lost many bets to her."

"Do you think we should be at this thing? This breakfast, just for us?" asks Shizuru.

"Ma'am, we Porkonians are more than grateful that you folks helped us put an end to this war which allowed us safe passage. We couldn't go back. It would only mean certain death."

"But if we hadn't figured it out in time…I know what being close to an apocalypse feels like. My husband was there at the edge of one in our time."

"Dear," Kurama reassures her, "What we experienced was nothing to what these aliens are going through. For one thing, they've got a sun on the verge of imploding. I can't even begin to imagine what one would go through with that constant threat. Not even King Yama is able to cause something like that." He sighs and stares at Ariaco, watching him cling to Shizuru's shirt and burying his face in her chest.

Leela glances at her beloved, watching his eyes scan the entire room, with a great ounce of uncertainty on his face. "What's the matter with you? You look tense."

"I feel so uncomfortable here," Hiei replies, biting his lip, "There's so many strange creatures here." He glances at a table with red-skinned frog-like aliens with one eye in their foreheads. Immediately his focus shifts to a group of aliens with stone-like bodies and eyes circumventing their heads. Then he sees two human-sized mantises heading his direction, chatting between themselves.

"You now know why I didn't fear demons when we first met. What demons you have in your side of reality look almost identical to any alien species I've met or seen."

"I…is it okay for us to be here?" Keiko stutters nervously, "There are aliens everywhere."

"This is a normal environment. Hardly anyone here is dangerous, or at least in this satellite above the Neutral Planet. Most representatives from the various planetary systems try to behave themselves in front of others," reassures Amy, "Besides you're with the group who stopped the senseless war, so eating you would be considered offensive and illegal."

"Oh but come on, me pretty," replies a suave French-accented voice to Keiko. She turns to greet McLark and a brown-haired triclops man, kneeling to her.

"I recognize you, Mr. Trilo. But who is this?" Keiko studies the man's appearance. He wears a black blazer jacket with a bright red Hawaiian shirt underneath. His legs are much longer than McLark's, making the obvious assumption that he stands at 5' 10". Keiko looks at his face and counts three blue eyes, similar to McLark's.

"I ama heesa brotha, Walta. I's cants helps but notice your beauty and grace. Madame, sucha lovely countenance you have." Walter kisses the back of her hand.

Keiko blushes at the brunette triclops. "You do realize I'm married, fellas. My husband will be here any moment."

"Aw sucha shame. How sucha flowa is snatchetes up. Hope heesa treatin' ya' right. If not, I beesa takin' ova." He stands to greet her eyes. "Madame, your eyes, they hold sucha tenderness and beauty."

"That was the angel I was telling you about, Walter. Well one of them. You ought to meet the beauty that saved my life. She's not taken." McLark searches the room and locates Botan chatting with a six-foot-tall gecko alien. "There, brother, don't you see her," McLark points out. "Such a beauty."

Walter starts looking at what McLark is pointing out, when he is suddenly side tracked by the man standing next to Leela. "Who's thisa dumbass? Heesa copies a you, brotha."

"I know. I forgot to mention him. Apparently he's with Ms. Leela. I met him in the war. That guy is more wound up than a 20th-century Earth clock."

"Is thatsa right?"

Keiko rolls her eyes. "Believe your brother, especially with the wound up part. I've known this man for along time."

"Is he your husband?"

"Hiei? Hell no. Let Leela take care of him. She's much better at taming him than I am."

"Thatsa fine ideas. Theesa lovely brunette, yousa betta lookin' anyways." Walter looks deep into Keiko's eyes, tracing the back of her hand with his right index finger.

"Ugh, Walter…" McLark starts to nudge his brother.

"Notsa now, brotha. Cantcas sees I's busy talksings to her? You goesa checks outsa the damsel yous obsessets about."

"As soon as you let go of my wife's hand." Walter jumps with a start and turns to greet Yusuke's stern eyes.

"Thousand pardons, mistuer. I wasa ovacome…McLak, whysa you didnots warns meesa bout heem?"

"I tried to, but you kept flirting with her." McLark greets Yusuke with a fake laugh and a sheepish grin. "Sorry about my brother. He's like that around women, especially the most attractive ones."

"You're this McLark guy I keep hearing about from Leela. When I was walking over here, I thought you were my buddy. Then I saw him over there talking to this self-important pig guy."

"Yeah well that's the guy who's trying to copy me. He has some nerve to make his face look like mine, damn fake third eye," snuffs McLark.

"And yours is real?"

"Of course. Walter and I are also triclopes. We're from Triclopicous 9."

"You're saying there's a whole race of people who look like Hiei?"

"I tried telling you about this guy, dear. I knew you didn't believe me."

"You're not the only one who I thought I was Leela's new beau. Someone else, a red-headed doctor working for Dr. Zoidberg…"

"Brotha, yous were the one who fooled heem. Meesa Leela sets heem up. Naturally, yous wents along with eets."

"Now that is a rare sight. Kurama's usually the one doing the tricking, not being tricked himself."

"I was there to witness it. What a sneaky woman."

"McLak ees too aye treekster heemself. Heesa gets me goin' everytime," chuckles Walter.

"My angel girl went with it, too," replies McLark.

"Angel girl?"

"Yes sir. See yonder, that blue-haired goddess talking to Geckoman. She came in with Leela's group."

"Botan? You think she's an angel?"

"Of course. She's a real beauty. I'd love to honor her."

"Now I know you aren't my friend."

"That was rude, man! What gives?" protests McLark, crossing his arms.

"I didn't mean it like that. Hiei never liked her. Threatened her on occasion. Total bastard to her."

"What an idiot! You don't do that to women, especially if on the off chance one would be the Goddess Shilopa, disguising herself in mortal flesh."

"You don't have to worry anymore about him threatening Botan, Yusuke."

"I know. Wish I knew Turonga Leela in our era fourteen years ago. Hiei threatens Botan, and then Leela threatens him. That's funny. I swear if that girl has a leash around his neck. I wish I'd witnessed that conversation in the medical tent yesterday. Or better yet, back in the bay where they were."

Keiko sees Shizuru and LaBarbara Conrad walking over. "Dwight, don't stray too far with Ariaco," commands LaBarbara.

"Sure thing, Mom."

"You're still goin' through with raisin' a Porkonian."

"What else can I do? He's lost so much in this short period of time. I couldn't just abandon him. Kurama feels the same way I do. I just…"

"I understand. You're a mamma, just like me. You've shown me your two. Cute younguns."

"Thanks. I'm just so…I just…I'm sorry," tears start dripping from Shizuru's eyes, "Another reason I asked for Dwight to play with Ariaco…I've not stopped…since seeing…sorry." LaBarbara embraces her.

"I saw one of the probes. My Hermes got one and we both watched the footage it brought back. I just can't imagine. I cried when I saw it."

"I don't know what I'd do if I was put in the same situation. I'd want my family to…survive. My kids at least. To have no hope left. To have nobody to save you. All you…can…"

"Let it go, hon." LaBarbara holds onto Shizuru, letting her sob.

"Shizuru! What's the matter with her?" asks Keiko, seeing her friend in tears.

"Have you seen the video of the Porko 09 planet yet?" asks LaBarbara.

"Not yet. Yesterday I was so busy with the incoming injuries and getting visitor chips from the police, I just didn't have time."

"You need to see it, Keiko. You must to be on the same page and all. It's the reason we're adopting Ariaco in the first place."

Suddenly the noise from a clinking glass interrupts the room noise. "May I have your attention please?" commands Glab. All eyes focus on her at the top of the room, as she stands at the center of the long table. On her left, stand King Porso and his main Cabinet body. On her right are President Marc Seyer and his Cabinet.

Kurama quickly snatches Ariaco, as he and Dwight run past him and Hermes. "Quiet, you two," whispers Hermes. "Dwight, pay attention."

"If the party from Earth can find their seat, we can get started with this."

Each representative quickly sits at the large circular table. Amy tries to find her seat with Kiff seated next to her.

"Wait, Leela, if Kiff is here…" Hiei starts to ask.

"Sir, he's by himself," reassures Glab, "He's not the one who started this war. He just works for the one that did. I hold no blame over Kiff Kroker. Besides, he's about to marry the Wong Family's only daughter."

"Thank you, Madam President. I'm most flattered."

"Save your flattery for your wife-to-be. There are more important issues."

"You mean Zapp isn't…"

"I assure you sir, he's in the brig right now. I haven't decided his punishment now. What's more pressing at this point is for King Porso's people to claim ownership of their new planetary system. That comes first."

"So what's next, Madam President?" asks Kiff, "What will happen to me?"

"You might get a promotion. I may have you serve as captain in his absence."

"M…me? Captain of the Nimbus?"

"Would you be up to the task if I gave you the job?"

"So we're getting a new planetary system and new captain of Earth?" snorts Porso. "I personally like Kiff. When I asked Earth for safe passage for my people, a few months ago, his response was yes. He was willing to okay it. He said he would let us pass, just had to bring the matter up with his superior."

"Is that when you went to Zapp yourself?" asks President Seyer, "You should have gone to me instead."

"I tried. I've sent emails to you."

"Good rule of advice is never go to Zapp. Nothing would be accomplished if you do that," sighs Glab.

"Ma'am," Kurama chimes in, "What did you need us up here for?"

"Oh, right. I ask you Earthicans to come up here, only to make you hear interplanetary chatter. I know the Planet Express crew, but the rest of you I've never met."

"That red-haired man, and I think his wife…she's sitting with Mrs. Conrad," Porso points out, "Those folks…Please stand both of you." The pair obliges and stands to greet the king. "Sir, I see you've brought that boy you rescued with you. Koun was it?"

"We found out his real name is Ariaco Hamparo," corrects Kurama.

"Hamparo? As in Poro Hamparo? We used to play poker together. So you've got his son."

"Would it be any trouble if we adopted him?" asks Shizuru, "I know I asked that yesterday. However, my husband and I aren't from around here. We're not even from the same era as you."

"Right, you folks are from the 21st century, like Mr. Fry is. I've seen the footage of his home, myself. I just can't believe Poro and Amiaca are gone. That's just unreal. So tragic."

"Would it be okay if we took him in? My wife and I have two kids of our own and were preparing to make a third."

"I really don't see a problem, sir," Porso shakes his head, "You wish to have him as your son. I would let him adjust to his new life slowly, if I were you."

"I'm not going to rush it with him. Our two will have to adjust to the change, but again, we won't rush things with them."

"Of course, sir. I'm a father myself. The Queen Sow Rizamica and I have a litter of eight and know what it means."

"Where is she now?" asks Glab.

"I was hoping you'd ask that. She's on one of the new Porko 09-1 planets right now. She's heading the construction and rebuilding of our homes and businesses. She emailed me that this morning. Would you like to see the pictures?"

"You've already got pictures of your new home planet?" asks Fry.

"Yes, and not too long from now, I'll be asking your crew to deliver building supplies and robots. Mom's Factory is making the robots we need now."

"Ooh ooh, does it involve bending girders? I want to help if it does," offers Bender.

"I suppose. We will need bending units, so I'll consider using you."

"Are you involving us as well, sir?" asks Yusuke.

"Up to you, time-travelers."

"We've still got our own mission," reminds Leela, "It's why I brought you here in the first place." "If it's okay with you, Sire, can we not participate. I'm not really working for Planet Express any more."

"Of course, Leela. It's not as if one less employee will mean too much."

"If you're not working with Planet Express, who are you with?" asks Glab.

"I'm uh…"

"She's working for my boss," informs Botan. "The business is…"

"Classified. I'm not allowed to reveal my position to anyone," replies Leela.

"Oh, a government job. Yes, I know how that goes. You don't even get a career chip for something like that."

"If I got one, with the job training my new boss had me go through, it'd be a waste of a good career chip. The one I had for spaceship captain is already burned up, because of the training."

"Must be some training to destroy a career chip of all things. Those things are hard to destroy. The only way I see how is if somehow you were messing around with a 10,000 volt electrical cord and got shocked," replies Glab, scratching her head.

"Not messing around, she can create such a charge," corrects Yusuke, "So can I."

"Just don't ask either of these two to demonstrate these powers here," recommends Keiko, "As I understand from Amy, it took you at least a couple hundred million to create this huge satellite. That planet below us would be a better place for a demonstration."

"Do you all possess a death ray or something?" asks Glab.

"In a matter of speaking, we've got at least four Earthicans at this table who could destroy this place themselves," sighs Keiko.

"Please don't be alarmed by us, ma'am," reassures Kurama, "But didn't you see the conference before the war?"

"You mean the one where that white tiger was speaking for Zapp? I saw that."

"I found it odd just how my soldiers were getting destroyed," snorts Porso, "I was watching these Earthicans flying around without any kind of device. I saw this black-haired human, I think it was this guy…" Porso points his hoof at Yusuke. "Just what the heck was that? I've never seen a proton gun do what ever he was doing. Were you issued a high-powered gun, sir?"

"No, I don't use a sidearm in battle. I just use my hands."

"That's what I meant when we came to my era," sighs Leela, "Nobody here understands what you do."

"He did the same thing on Decapod 10, Your Highness," replies Zoidberg. "So did Leela. They were fighting each other in Claw-Plagh and this stuff, this heat. I don't know what the hell it was, but it came out of their hands, it did. Blew a huge hole in the side of the stadium, they did."

"This intrigues me. This is the first I've heard of actual Earthicans that can tear solid structures by themselves. You weren't even using devices, but for real your own powers and personal strength," questions Glab.

"Would you like a demonstration?" asks Leela, "We can't do it up here, because it would destroy the headquarters."

"I'm still interested in how exactly my ships were destroyed," ponders Porso, "The ships out by the bay were being sliced and diced. They were blowing up for what seemed like no reason. I thought at first they were being torn up by the Earth's own resistance. But my register was reading someone or something was attacking the ships. Nobody, especially nobody belonging to Earth moves that fast."

"Well we did come here to train," shrugs Leela, "Perhaps we could show this."

"I thought you wanted to train without on-lookers," sighs Hiei, glinting at Leela.

"I guess it's too late for that option," replies Leela with a fake laugh, while scratching the back of her head.

"However the best place for all that is down there on the planet," replies Keiko.

"On the Neutral Planet?" asks Glab.

"Oh yeah. Better take that advice," confirms Shizuru. "We've seen first hand what these three boys of ours can do. We've known them for fourteen years or more. Though I've only known Leela-san for two months, she's powerful enough to challenge foes and defeat them even if they are stronger than her. She challenges these guys of ours all the time in sparring matches."

"Does the Neutral Planet have a blurnsball stadium?" asks Leela.

"We have at least fifty stadiums. There is one in the southern hemisphere that can stand reconstruction. It needs to be demolished. However our contractors are so slow that it's taking forever for anything to be done to it."

"Say no more," smirks Keiko, "We'll take care of it. I can see my other half is eager."

"It'd certainly give Ariaco a good idea what his adoptive father-to-be is good at," laughs Shizuru.

"We will adjourn this meeting for now and regroup on the surface," informs Glab.

"What about breakfast though?" reminds Fry.

"Oh sorry. That's the second reason I asked you to come up here. Honestly, it's like I bring you up here, and then I don't feed you."

"Yeah, especially with the nature of my clan," sighs Porso, "Growing piglets need to eat."

"Just how much do you guys eat?" asks Kurama, "What portion control can we give Ariaco?"

"It's similar to you humans. He'll eat the same amount as you give teenaged humans, though."

"Really. He wasn't eating much last night. He ate half his chicken burger and only six feelers."

"It could be a whole host of reasons," sighs Fiery, "He might be sick, it wasn't too long ago when he had the stomach flu. There weren't any medicines or doctors to help him either, given the conditions of the planet. It could also be that he's away from home and is lonely without his parents and family. I still can't believe Amiaca and Poro are gone. I've lived next door to them for four years. She and I were members of a quilting bee and a local women's club at the church she went to."

"So you were best friends them. When did you know Ariaco?" asks Kurama.

"I didn't just know him. Last year, after the first war, Amiaca told me and the rest of the 'Sows That Sew' group, that she was pregnant. She brought Poro to the group that night too. Between Earth's July and November, she came by, getting bigger and bigger. Then in Earth's November, she was at my house with Poro when her water broke. Since the planet was running out of doctors, due to the apocalyptic plague, Poro and I took turns helping her give birth. The first piglet to be born was a girl, then after her came one piglet after the next. She ended up giving birth to eight babies, but two of them died at birth. The last baby to be born was Ariaco. He was the runt of the litter too."

"You mean he's only eight months old?" asks Shizuru, "He walks, talks, and acts like he's three."

"Not much of a surprise there, ma'am," assures Porso, "Most of our kind grow up and learn things much quicker than you humans do."

"Still, he's only a baby yet. My question is why was he the only one my husband and I found alive on your planet? He was out on the street in front of his house."

"He probably doesn't have the illness. He also didn't know his family was dead, just asleep," figures Fiery, "Normally he'd walk outside first thing to pee. Since there were no laws against it, nobody cared. Hell I did that. In fact that morning we left for this war, I drank a huge thing of Slurm, walked out to the center of street, and sat for at least half an hour watering the ground."

"We noticed some enormous stain on the street when we found him," ponders Shizuru, "I wasn't sure if he made that mess or you had a giant monster using that place as his own personal bathroom."

"Nope. There are no giants from my former planet," assures Porso.

"So have you swept through your old planet yet? Finished with collecting anymore living samples?" asks Kurama.

"We have. There are a grand total of ninety-seven orphans, fourteen complete families; we found a tomb that had living bodies in it. It was a sow and her litter about to die, but the probes found them first. Thank goodness for that too."

"Are you finished though?"

"Yes, there were thousands of DOOP probes scouring every square inch of that planet. Keep in mind, sir, most of my clan was aboard the mother-ship, so that planet was mostly empty."

"What about the bodies? Do you guys do anything to honor the dead?" asks Kurama.

"We do have funerals for them. We will be placing our dead in graves on the new planet."

"I think what my husband is trying to ask is, will Ariaco be able to see his family one last time? Will he be given the chance to have a funeral for them? I'd hate to just adopt him without this type of closer, especially when he's been ripped from his family so suddenly. I don't think…he realizes…" tears pool in Shizuru's eyes and trickle down her face. LaBarbara, sitting to Shizuru's left, starts rubbing her back. Shizuru tries hard to fight off her tears.

"Of course. They will be on the brand new planet. There's going to be a global funeral tomorrow. His family, among others, will be presented. If you Earthicans wish to attend, you are more than welcome, especially you folks. You didn't just save one piglet; you helped stop the war and helped DOOP save a bunch of lives still left on the old planet. Your presence at the global funeral tomorrow will be honorable."

"Should I be there? Should have I been there?" asks Botan. "I would have at least helped the lost souls find peace in the afterlife. So much suffering…"

"What do you mean, Miss?" asks Porso.

"Just what you think it means. I…" tears flow from Botan's eyes, "I would have helped them crossover. I wish I was there for you, or at least for your deceased loved ones. They deserve safe passage into the afterlife. I'm so sorry help came too late for you. So many dead from this…" Leela stands up from her chair, walks over to Botan's, and embraces Botan.

Porso peers towards Botan, sighing deeply. "You sound as if you are a death angel. Our religion believes in such people. They appear as ordinary people, but are death angels for real, escorting the dead across the Grand River of the Afterlife."

"Sire, may we be excused to the Ladies Room?" asks Leela.

"Ariaco and I will come in with you," sighs Shizuru, "Kurama's telling me he has to pee again."

"Sure, just go to the back, where you docked the ship and hang a left," informs Glab.

"Didn't I say our young have small bladders?"

"He might also be suffering from an infection, due to the poor conditions on your planet," sighs Kurama. "After we get back to Earth, there's a great chance we will have him see a urologist."

"You think so. You sound like a doctor. Are you one?" asks Porso.

"In fact, yes I am."

"So now we've got two Earthican doctors here, Zoidberg and you…uh…sir what's your name?"

"Minamino, sir. Kurama Minamino."

"How come I've never seen you? Because you're a time-traveler. Didn't mean to ask such a rhetorical question."

"And you call yourselves smart," sneers Hiei, "You don't remember all that well and you fall for lies and you don't just leave until it's too late. Any…"

'Don't you dare insult the emperor or I'll toss you out into absolute zero!' He sees a fiery image of Leela in his mind, glaring at him.

"Like I was huh…nevermind."

"What was that just now?" smirks Kurama.

"What was what just now?" asks Glab.

"I heard him say what was on his mind about me…" Porso starts to explain.

"Hiei used to be the only telepath in our group, and used to threaten to kill us…but now we've got Leela as a telepath, and she disciplines him like that. She's just as dangerous, or more so."

"From all the way in the bathroom?" asks Glab.

"Distance isn't much of an obstacle for telepaths and psychics," explains Kurama, "These two use it like a phone or an email messenger. They talk to each other, read each other's feelings."

"Her ability has helped me…is helping me in getting over my first lover's passing. That tiger you saw, Glab-sama, was once my lover. Not in that form, obviously, but Mukuro was reborn 1000 years ago, in my era; just right after she died. I loved her like nothing else. For ten years, she was in my life. Last year, we made a child together. Hiro was born this year. But she never recovered from childbirth. Due to malice and her own weakness, she only lasted five weeks. The week of her passing, this woman of yours, Leela-san, fell literally into my century, my world in this car of hers. Since then she's helped me deal with all sorts of things. She never made me prove anything to her. She just accepted me for who I am. When Mukuro died, Leela held onto me and let me cry. She just loves me, and there's no way to describe how or why. She says she wishes for my happiness and so far she's not let me down. I feel more open around her. I feel free to laugh, free to cry, free to love, free to be happy. For once in my life, I'm a happy man. Because of Leela, I'm just…I f…f…" tears pool in Hiei's eyes, "Leela means everything to me. I don't know what I'd do if I had never met her."

"I feel same way with the Queen Sow. I love her like that. Without her, nothing seems at all important to me, not even life itself."

Hiei touches his cheek, capturing a tear with his fingers. "I told you I was happy, and yet I'm crying of all things. What strange sad irony."

"Nothing ironic or strange about that. I believe every man gets that way when thinking about his woman and expressing his love for her. I get that way too for Rizamica."

"I feel that way towards my smizmar, Kafuku," sighs Glab, "He's the love of my life and father of my tadpole children."

Back at the restrooms, Leela embraces Botan with Shizuru standing next to both of them. Leela sends Botan images of Porko 09 through telepathy. "I wish…so much death…that family…I…why did it have to be this way? They didn't deserve this. So many souls gone. If only I knew this…" Botan buries her face in Leela's shoulder, sobbing as hard as she can.

"There's nothing you could have done. The king said they've got shinigamis as well. My best bet is their 'Koenma' had his shinigami gather up all the fallen souls and take them to their version of Spirit World."

"But so many. Not even the worst demon ever…no it just…"

"This is breaking my heart as well. I know its hurting Kurama. Last night he dreamt he was on that doomed planet himself. He saw so many corpses of pig people it was just unbearable. He said he went by one of those tombs, but instead of seeing pig bodies, he saw all of us, dead. Me, our kids, Keiko, Yusuke, their two, Baby Bro, Yukina, the babies…Leela…you were dead too. Everyone was dead. Nothing he could do. He said he came too late. He said what really got to him was seeing the body of his best friend, Hiei, curled up beside you, Leela. It was enough to wake him up and me as well. And then he curled into ball, hugged his knees and started balling, just crying so hard."


	38. Chapter 38

While sitting at the table, Fry stares off into space. He glances at Fiery twirling her hair with her fingers. "Fiery, so what's next for you? Is it back to Earth for you?"

"I much rather help the Porkonians settle on their new planet, if it's all the same. What about you? Will you help us?"

"If King Porso will have me help out. Can I help you out?"

"I want to as well," Keiko replies. "I'd very much like to see this new planet of yours."

"You time-traveler?" asks Porso.

"We've got our own mission," Yusuke reminds her.

"I know that, but you know how little help I am on your spiritual stuff. I just don't want to be a burden to you. If it's all the same, I want to help these Planet Express crew members."

"You want to help my crew out, Ma'am?" asks Farnsworth, "You're welcome to do so. I can't pay you or nothing."

"I know. I just want to join you in the construction of Porso new homeland. If Fiery is doing that, and so is Fry, then I don't see why I can't help either."

"What's your name, Ma'am?" asks Porso.

"Keiko. Keiko Urameshi."

"Well, Keiko, I'm pleased you want to help my people out. You're welcome to come to my new planet and join my wife's construction crew."

"I'll certainly allow this," replies Glab, "An Earthican time-traveler volunteering on Porko 09-1. I'd suggest you stay with Planet Express' crew members since their planet would be foreign to you."

"It's foreign to me as well," replies Porso. "I've never seen the place myself."

"You've never seen it, but you want to live there?" asks Kurama with a puzzled look on his face, "Why haven't you seen it before living there?"

"I've had scouts check it out and report back to me."

"I was going to say, I'd think you'd check it out first. What if dangerous animals roamed the surface? What if some were big and dangerous enough to eat you?"

"I had thought of that. That's why I sent scouts to the planet. Porko 09-1 does have large animals. Most of them are harmless. There are quite a few that are herbivores. Glockan cattle roam the majority of the prairies. There are a great number of birds, including the Porko geese and white fellow swans. There are a few carnivores, including forest lions, red bears, Black Barrish wolves…"

"So basically, you personally haven't been there before. You know what it looks like but never set foot there," presumes Kurama.

"That's right. My scouts have brought me pictures of the place. There are five continents, two major oceans, and ice caps at the poles… Two of the continents are above the equator, the other three are below… There are forests, deserts…"

"You're basically describing what Earth looks like," replies Yusuke.

"Yeah. Porko 09 used to look like that and Porko 09-1 looks like that now," confirms Porso, "I've been to your planet, Earthicans. Your planet is configured pretty much similar as our new one."

"That's what Leela's been saying. A lot of planets look like Earth," confirms Kurama, while looking at his table group.

"Neutral Planet also has five continents and looks like that," informs Glab, "Glackon Tauh is the southern continent I said has the blurnsball stadium you can destroy. It's in the middle of a dense forest in the east-most country, just south of the Equator."

"What does the country look like? Is it flat?"

"Where the blurnsball stadium is. There are a few cities in the flat lands of Tallamo. Some western areas are hilly. Mountains are to the south and west."

"Porko 09-1 looks like that. Some of the mountains, especially around the oceans are volcanic."

"Have you named anything yet?" asks Keiko.

"Haven't done that yet. I figure after we've got things settled and have developed cities, we'll name continents and countries. We might name some countries after you Earthicans. Honor you like that."

"A whole country named after me?" asks Keiko in disbelief, "When I came to the future in Leela's car…I never thought…"

"Get use to it," smirks Fry, "I've got a few countries named after me out here on various planets."

"Yeah but you've been unfrozen for seven years. It's barely been a week for us. I just don't know…"

"Zo meeza angel geeza cuntry namez afzer hu," chimes Walter, "Sheeza dezuves et."

"And I told you she's my wife, not your angel."

"You need to find your own girl, brother. Latching yourself to someone else's woman is a bad idea," sighs McLark. He glances towards the back of the room, watching Botan releasing herself from Leela's embrace. He gazes at her walking with Leela back towards the arrangement of tables, locked in conversation. "Now that's my woman."

McLark watches her approach with Leela and stands to greet her. "Mi-lady," he bows to Botan, "hate to see you sad like this. Tears just don't become you, less I cry them myself."

"Uh, thanks, I guess."

"What's the matter, dear?"

"It's just you look too much like Hiei and…"

"And that bothers you I look like the dumbass? Can't help with that."

"Hey! How dare you call me a dumbass!"

"I would if you didn't look like me or threaten this woman's life. A smart man should never do those things."

"I'm starting to like you, McLark," chimes Kurama, "That's how I feel about women."

"So all of a sudden you like this idiot?"

"I haven't heard McLark say anything bad about Botan yet. No death threats or anything. He sounds like he's in love with her."

"Whatever."

"Ah don't worry about Hiei," smirks Leela, "He's just mad because his alien look-a-like is acting like a gentleman to Botan here. He's objecting to any notion of his likeness dating her or falling for her. Completely opposite of what he'd do."

"Ha! As if that would happen."

"I wouldn't mind that one bit," replies McLark. "Would you like that, Botan? Me taking you out."

"With you, McLark?"

"Why not? We can hit El Zar's. Either I take you in my ship or you fly me on that giant spoon of yours."

"Well this is a first. Someone who looks like Hiei asking you out," smirks Yusuke.

"But he's clearly not," remarks Keiko, "If we weren't married, I'd be interested in this McLark guy, despite his appearance."

"Wazz abou me?"

"What about you, Walter? You don't even know me. You're suave, I'll give you that much."

"The problem with Walter is he overdoes it. He'll swoon you until you can't stand it."

"Yousa swoonz za ladiez ztoo. Yousa doin' iz zo er."

"Yeah but I don't go around hitting on someone's wife. You'll get a black eye from that. Most likely he'll hit the one on your forehead."

"Have you been hit there, McLark?" inquires Yusuke.

"Yeah. This girl's boyfriend hit my nocturnal eye. Hurts like a bitch when that happened. Has your triclops friend been hit there too?"

"I've never been hit in the forehead by anyone. Having the damn thing implanted was painful enough though."

"So that isn't natural for real. You aren't a natural-born triclops then," ponders McLark.

Suddenly, Leela feels a jolt and glances up at Porso. She notices one of his countrymen marching up him and leaning against his ear. "Are you serious? Now of all times? But why? I thought it'd take much longer. Years in fact. I thought it'd take ten more years at least."

"What's going on?" asks Shizuru, as she walks back to the table with Ariaco.

"I'm getting strange reports from the dead souls. It's like they are fleeing too," replies Leela.

"I see them too," confirms Botan, "It's like mass droves of Porkonian souls are leaving the Spirit World above Porko 09."

"How is that possible?" asks Fry. "I don't sense anything."

"Because you don't have spiritual awareness," replies Kurama, "I'm sensing them too. It's making my hair stand on end. But ghosts in massive droves are leaving the old Porkonian system. It's like something bad is happening."

"But how? Through space?"

"If you are dead or immortal, it shouldn't matter. You don't require oxygen or sleep or whatever," explains Kurama.

A female Porkonian wearing a white robe and wings on her back flies through the reinforced shatterproof glass of the DOOP Headquarters and appears in front of Botan.

"What's going on?"

"You're a death angel, aren't you?" the Porkonian asks hastily.

"Angelina!" snorts Porso, looking at her.

"You know this woman?" asks Glab.

"She's a death angel from my old home planet."

"Porso, so glad you and your kind are away now."

"My clan is on Porko 09-1."

"Rokanda is ordering everyone to flee to the new planet at once. Leave the Grand River of the Afterlife. He wanted to make sure you were safe. We're establishing a new Grand River now."

"And what do you want from me?" asks Botan.

"He's asking anyone who's a death angel to help us move. Since you are one yourself, maybe you can help us."

"You said you wished you could be there to escort their dead," recalls Leela, "They need help now."

"But what…I work for Koenma, not this Rokanda guy. I don't even know where this new planet is."

"I'll show you the route," offers Angelina.

"But I don't understand why?"

Porso flips on a giant screen behind him, revealing the old Porkonian solar system. Shots from various probes flash from one planet to the next. Finally one shot reveals the Porko 09 planet. "Is that what you guys saw? Leela? Shizuru? Kurama?" asks Botan, gazing at the barren planet.

"It almost looks like what Ryoko did to Musashi," snorts Hiei. "I can't believe you were there."

"We weren't physically there," explains Leela, "Our probe was in our place."

"Are all of you off this planet?" asks Botan.

"All bodies are off. Both the dead and living bodies alike are off and on their way to the new planet. The dead will be placed in new graves on Porko 09-1," assures Porso.

"So that family we saw…" Shizuru starts to ask.

"They're on their way to the new planet. All those tombs are empty."

"So what are we seeing now, Porso?" asks Glab. "Basically you have nothing there. It's a dead deserted planet." Suddenly a shot of the sun is shown overhead. The rays of the sun expand over the sky above.

"What is that?" shrieks Keiko. She watches as the probe zips away from the planet, followed immediately behind by hundreds of others.

The room watches the sun expand rapidly. "That's a Super Nova!" replies Glab, "You really had to leave or else."

"Our old home is being engulfed by the sun. I thought for sure we'd have more time than this."

"That's why I came for you, fellow death angel," explains Angelina to Botan, "Rokanda sensed this happening and has asked us to move away now. That sun is preparing to become a black hole and is threatening to pull everything including all the souls along with it."

"Sure I'll help, as long as I can get back to this space station after this." Instantly, Botan changes into her pink kimono and flies off after Angelina.

"But how will she travel in space like that?" asks McLark.

"Botan isn't mortal," explains Yusuke, "Do you think she was lying when she said she was shinigami? This is what she does in our era. That body you're in love with is only her mortal appearance."

"I'm not mortal either, McLark," replies Hiei.

"No but you do have mortal flesh and body," replies Leela, "You can bleed and die. You wouldn't be able to survive in space, unless you had a suit and air tank."

"So what now?" sighs Kurama, while resting his head on his folded arms on the table in front of him.

"Not sure, mon," replies Hermes, "Watch this Super Nova, I guess. Not much can be done." He glances at LaBarbara and sees tears in her eyes. "Womon, what's wrong?"

"I…I can't believe this, Hermes. Their home…it's just gone. What if that was us? What if that was Earth?" LaBarbara folds her left arm straight across her chest and rests her right elbow on her fist, trying to high her eyes with her right hand. "I can't watch anymore; this is too much for me." Shizuru frees her left hand from holding Ariaco and rubs her back.

"This is why we're adopting Ariaco," sighs Shizuru, "He's got no home left. This Super Nova is more of a reason. I just can't believe all this is happening the day after we rescued him. One day later and he'd be burned up with this sun and gone. Had we never met Leela, had we never come to this era, he wouldn't be alive. We were naming him Koun because he was lucky. Maybe we can use that for his middle name."

Fembots wheel around the Earthican table, carrying trays of pancakes and chicken sausage on service carts. "Alright, breakfast. Finally," chimes Glab.

"Just what took them so long?" asks Yusuke.

"They had to make breakfast for everyone here, can't just be you Earthicans eating," replies Glab.

"Coffee? Orange juice?" squeaks a fembot to each guest.

"Coffee, please," requests Yusuke. The fembot waitress reaches into her chest plate and pulls out an empty ceramic mug and sets it on the table in front of him and pours hot coffee from her hose attachment. He stares at the mug then back at the fembot serving him.

"What's that look for?" chuckles Leela, "Never seen that before?"

"No. I'm afraid of what else she's going to do."

"Would you like cream or sugar, sir?"

"Black is fine."

"Enjoy your meal, then," the fembot chimes with a smile in her voice, as she wheels to another guest with a platter and drink choice.

"Coffee with cream please," replies Leela to the fembot serving her. The fembot sets an empty mug in front of Leela and pours hot coffee from its hose and cream from under the hose attachment. Hiei watches the fembot intently.

"I'm in the same boat as he is. These things are just weird."

"The service or the fembots?" asks Leela.

"Fembots aren't weird," protests Bender. "These here are very sexy."

"Thank you, Bender," chimes the fembot serving him.

"To you they are. I'm not into machines."

"Beer or wine coolers, Mr. Bender?"

"Beer please."

"That's what you drink for breakfast?" asks Kurama with a grimace.

"Of course. Got to keep me energized."

"A drunk robot is a better functioning one," replies Fry.

"That's what Leela says. Drunk for breakfast though."

"You don't want to see him sober," cautions Leela. "He just can't function like that. He's all out of sorts and walks around in a daze."

"So robots are complete opposites of us when it comes to drinking? They function the best drunk the same as we do sober. Then that all changes when the statuses change," figures Kurama.

"Basically. That's how things work here," confirms Fry.

"I can't wait to go back home and tell these types of stories to Grandma. Tell her what the future is like."

"We'll all have stories to tell. Not just Genkai, but our friends too," replies Keiko.

"Who is this woman you young folks speak of?" inquires Farnsworth. Leela displays a holograph of her from her wristband. He whistles after her. "Oh my. She's a sexy chick. How old is she?"

"She's 90 years old," informs Yusuke.

"So she's a young sexy chick. I wish I could meet such a hot babe. She's even better looking than Mom."

"Professor, you've got a weird taste in women. How do you think she's sexy? She's not sexy. She's old."

"If she's 90, she's not old. Old to you maybe. How old are you, kid?"

"Kid! I'm 28 years old. I'm not a kid anymore."

"You are a kid. I'm 160."

"That's really old, Gramps. 160 years old for a human, that's almost too old."

"He's right about that," warns Leela, "The Sunset Squad may come for you again. This time rescuing you will be impossible."

"What's the Sunset Squad?" asks Keiko.

"They're a group of robots that take you to a distant planet when you reach 160. They stick you in a vault-like gravestone and keep you in virtual reality until you die."

"Robot shinigami? They do the same type of job Botan does," replies Yusuke.

"Almost except they take your body while you are still alive," Leela explains, "One time the Professor was feeling useless because Cubert was making him feel that way. So he lied to the Sunset Squad about being 160 and they took him to the Sunset Squad Planet. We had to rescue the Professor before it was too late for him."

"I know my clan's elderly are there now. They were the first ones to be removed from Porko 09," snorts Porso, "I've asked the Sunset Squad to mark where they were until we all moved off. I know Poro Hamparo's folks are there now, so are Amiaca's."

"Are they alive or dead?" asks Shizuru.

"They're alive. I've told the robots to keep them alive, so that they can be transported later on. This afternoon, I'll be giving the Sunset Squad the okay to let our elderly be transported to Porko 09-1."

"So Ariaco's grandparents are still alive," sighs Shizuru in relief, "That will make things easy then."

"But won't them being alive put a damper on your plans to adopt him?" asks Fry.

"Not really," answers Porso, "Our laws aren't strict like that. These two can still adopt him. If it wasn't for them finding him in the first place, there'd be no telling what would happen."

"Ariaco wouldn't be alive, that's for sure," sighs Shizuru.

"In honor of you saving him, I'll be naming a country after you, Earthican. What's your name?"

"Shizuru. A whole country though?"

"That's right. How about in the southern hemisphere? I'll generate a map for you and email it to you."

"I just don't know. A whole country, out on a foreign planet. Can I have time to think it over?"

"Of course, Ma'am. Sorry for the rushed decision."

"We are going there tomorrow for the Global Funeral. I need to go back to Earth to buy a black kimono for it, I don't think Ariaco has one…"

"You didn't bring a kimono with you?" asks Kurama.

"No, I didn't know we would be going to a funeral in this era. Did you bring one?"

"I packed one. Not a black one though."

"Kimono? What's that?" asks Porso.

"Formal attire if you're Japanese," answers Leela, "You wear them to festivals and stuff. Black for funerals."

"I thought you said there are no kimono shops," recalls Keiko.

"New New York has shops all over the place with dresses that look like kimonos. They look more like what you're used to wearing, but they are much easier to get into. They zip up the back like a dress. Then the zipper is concealed, almost like it disappears."

"Really," replies Shizuru, "Quick and simple to dress in one."

Leela sips her coffee. "There is a shop not too far from where we live. Just a couple blocks away. 'Han's Kimono-Look-a-Like' is the name of the place."

"Do they have anything for men?" asks Kurama, "I need a black one for this funeral."

Leela nods, "Yes, there's a men's section. Just like with any clothing store."

"I've been to this place with Mom," replies Amy, "That's where she got her kimono for the wedding. Dad got his there too."

"The kimonos are reasonably priced, about $24," Leela explains further. "I'm planning to buy one myself for her wedding."

"Are you going to the funeral, too?" asks Porso, "You're the one who helped us stop the war, Leela. I'd be honored if you of all Earthicans attended."

"He's right," agrees Glab, "Not only did you save a bunch of lives in this war, but I got an email message from last night that you saved Mr. Vogel's life. You, Ms. Kokoro, and Mr. Minamino saved the Orphanarium from those thugs."

"Is that true, Leela?" asks Fry. "When Bender and I came by to pick up Yusuke, we saw all those cop cars at your apartment building and a bunch of guys in handcuffs. I didn't know what happened. He didn't tell me much at all."

"There wasn't much to tell. Those guys were hardcore and though, but I think I was having too much fun to know the severity of the situation. I didn't receive so much as an email on my watch-thing from Leela's group of three."

"Sorry if this upsets you, Leela, but Botan told me Koenma sent Mr. Vogel's shinigami. This Roland guy said he was just moments from death. Like if she, Kurama, and Fiery had arrived there a few minutes later than they did, he would have died for real."

"So we were really close to losing him," sighs Leela, "I had no idea. I saw his shikigami stand-in getting killed. That robot we stole from that gang showed them shooting him without much thought or motive. Their only reason was to have him killed so he couldn't witness them take over the building and rape the children."

"That's sick, Leela," replies Glab with a grimace on her face, "Can't believe there are Earthicans that perverted and cold. Glad you stopped that from happening. How did you know they'd do that?"

"Same way she knew how to stop the war. Same reason we've got Ariaco now," Kurama explains, "Leela has telepathy, the ability to read someone's mind. We captured a POW and she was able to read his mind and see Porso's old homeland. Because of this ability, she was able to see past the lies Lrrr and Zapp were giving off and know to send the probe from her company's spaceship and let us explore the surface ourselves."

"You did all of that?" asks Glab, "I had no idea."

"It's true, Your Honor," sighs Leela, "When I was in the 21st century, back in May, I was given these abilities."

"You weren't actually given powers," corrects Kurama, "What Koenma did was open your spiritual channels and allowed you to reach the spirit energy trapped inside your body."

"That's what he did for me," recalls Yusuke.

"Yes, but you were dead when he did that. Leela wasn't. She was very much alive when she was up in Spirit World."

"You were alive the whole time?"

"I was alive when my soul was separated from my body. Still was breathing and had a pulse."

"Weren't you scared of Spirit World the first time you were there?"

"Not really. More intrigued than anything. The hallway looked about the same as Mukuro's Tower and the main entryway with all those ogres reminds me of the Interplanetary Stock Exchange. That place is just as busy and chaotic."

"What about when you had to return to your body?" asks Yusuke, "The Life Force energy thing."

"That was my favorite part," smiles Leela, "Being kissed like I was Sleeping Beauty. Waking up to a kiss from my Prince Charming. The most handsome fire apparition I know kissing me the way he did." She glances reminiscently into Hiei's eyes, watching his cheeks blush.

Hiei yanks on Leela's arm. "Quit with the flattering. What did I tell you about that? That's embarrassing, especially in a room full of non-humans like this," he whispers to her, trying to shield his face with his hand and her ear.

"I saw that," smirks Yusuke.

"That's the first I've seen him blush like that, and I've known him forever," chuckles Kurama.

"He doesn't blush ever?" asks Kiff, "Or gets flustered."

"Not usually. Well not before he met Leela, that is," laughs Kurama, "She seems to have this knack of making him feel and act like well…human, I guess."

"I'm not human. I uh…well like you're one to talk. Both you clowns have women that do that to you. I never let something like human emotions affect me. You should know that much about me by now."

"Sure you don't," smirks Kurama, "What human emotion doesn't affect you? Love…naw got that. Crying…that's human too. You've done that since you met her. Name me one thing non-human about you anymore."

"Killing without remorse. Threatening to kill anyone who'd squeal about me."

"Well you used to do that crap. But now, Leela's sort of put a ka-bosh on that. You're not really posing a threat and you're allowing her to control you. You're kind of not really demonic anymore. Physically you are still a demon, but see what being in love with a human woman does to you. You're becoming more human."

"You mean like you are, Fox boy."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"This is what I meant," chimes in Fry, "This is what being in love with Leela is all about. Once you date her a few times, she owns you. She used to be that way about me. Now it's your turn."

"And now you've got me, Fry," smirks Fiery, "And I don't let go too easily either."

"I already know that much about you."

Leela watches Botan and Angelina fly back into the DOOP Headquarters and reappear at the Earthican table. "That didn't take very long," replies Leela.

"We were flying at warp speed. I didn't think my oar would take it, but it did."

"Well warp speed usually doesn't take long," explains Leela, "That's how the Planet Express ship moves. How far away is Porko 09-1 from here?"

"How far, Angelina?" asks Botan.

"About 1000 light years from here, 500 from Earth. We had to make a pit stop on Earth to pick up the lost souls of the Porkonian soldiers. Then Botan said she had to pee real bad."

"You did too, Angelina. Both of us had to sit behind that bush in Monument Park."

"What's Porko 09-1 like?" asks Shizuru.

"Very lush. Lots of forest areas. There are vast plains of flat, grassy areas, ideal for farming. There are deserts, tropical jungles; there are quite a few islands. Some islands look about the size of Japan even. One in particular sits on the Equator and is very tropical. It almost looks like Japan, but is about twice as big. It's out in the middle of one of the oceans. Porso, you might want to take advantage of that place for civilization."

"What about the animal life?" asks Kurama.

"Quite lush. There's quite a few herd animals, like cattle, sheep, goats. The oceans and waterways are teaming with fish. There are great deals of lakes on all five continents, as well as on the islands. Lots of fish. There are also great deals of birds. Some birds look like they'd be great for rounding up for livestock farms. You've got enough animals there that would be great sources of meat for your kind. Some of the birds look like chickens; you can harvest them for eggs."

"Where is my wife at?"

"The Queen Sow is in one of the northern continents," informs Angelina, "When we arrived there it was nighttime and springtime. Your clan is in the northeastern coastline."

"The continent sort of looks like North America. Where your clan is where we Earthicans have New York City. It even looks like the same coastline," informs Botan.

"That's what my scouts were telling me," confirms Porso, "This is an ideal place for us. Wish we had moved there much sooner."

"Regretting trying to reason with Zapp?" asks Glab.

"Already doing that. I've been regretting talking to him since before the war even. That war was my last resort."

"That was what we were figuring," replies Leela. "We had the same war last year."

"Same reason we started the war. Last year we had pressure from Zapp. This year it was Zapp and Lrrr."

"Devouring Earthicans is more like what Lrrr threatens. He even threatened to kill us if we didn't fight you," informs Leela.

"I'd expect that from Lrrr," sighs Glab, "Nothing can be done to him either. Punishing him would be pointless. I will be employing Zapp to work on your new planet. Won't be his choice either."

"Mandatory labor. He deserves it too," snorts Porso.

"Wait if I'm volunteering there…won't he come on to me?" asks Keiko, "He tried that earlier on Zoidberg's planet."

"No," assures Porso, "I'll tell whomever in charge of labor assignments to employ Zapp away from women. You're working with Planet Express anyways. Your shifts will be different. I may ask to employ Earthican and Porso prisoners alike to work for us in rebuilding and restoration. He may be working with them."

"So, Botan, what does this Grand River look like?" inquires Yusuke.

"Apparently Rokanda likes blue and gold colors. The entire gate is colored blue with gold trim on the doors. The gate isn't ridiculously big either. Looks like a pair of French doors, about 12 feet in height. The long hallway is dark blue with sparkling gold accents dotting the walls. Sort of looks like a celestial night sky. The main floor is very organized. Porkonians sit at his or her desk. It's about as organized as the Decapod 10's Spirit World."

"Did you meet Rokanda? Is he anything like Koenma?"

"Rokanda looks like a young man, about 20 years old. He stands about my height. He wears a long blue robe with a gold sash around his waist and a long gold cape down his back."

"How does he act?"

"The age he looks. He's very mature and behaved courteous to me. He said he was more than pleased that an Earthican death angel was helping his dead brethren move to the new Grand River."

Botan sighs deeply and glances at Ariaco. "During the move, I met his parents."

"You saw Amiaca and Poro?" asks Porso in a surprised voice.

"They said they were watching over Ariaco, making sure he was all right. They were so pleased to watch him get rescued like that. They said they blessed whomever it was who did that. I told them who it was; in fact I showed them the holographs of you, Shizuru and Kurama. Told them you, a pair of Earthicans with kids of your own, rescued him. They want to meet you at the funeral tomorrow. I told them you had spiritual awareness. They want to talk to you personally."

"Did you tell them we were planning to adopt him?" replies Shizuru, with tears forming in her eyes.

"I mentioned that. Amiaca cried and said since you saved him, she approved of your desires. She said she preferred that to having him stay at some orphanage. She's requesting he go with you instead. To arms of two parents that want to share their love and home with him. You want to bring him up and have him educated at school; they were more than pleased about that."

"Is that so? She said that. Why does she want to see us then?" sighs Shizuru, with tears dripping down her face. She embraces Ariaco, while he tries to eat his chicken sausage, kissing the top of his forehead.

"Mrs. Minamino?"

"You're going to have to practice calling her Mom," corrects Botan.

"That's alright, we're not going to rush him into anything. He still needs time to adjust. We're giving him all the time he needs. It might be a while yet until Ariaco's comfortable to call us his parents."

"We were hoping for closure. Seeing his parents again would help, even if it were just their ghosts. I know I want to meet Poro myself. I know if the roles were reversed and I was the one dead, I'd want to meet the guy who would be taking over as father in his son's or daughter's life," sighs Kurama.

"I feel the same as you, mon," agrees Hermes, "I feel that way about Dwight if something should happen to me."

"He says he wants to meet you too. Poro wants to speak with you personally," replies Botan.

"Where is the funeral being held?" asks Yusuke.

"Above the planet, actually," informs Porso, "There's an orbiting cemetery being constructed right now in fact on Earth. Planet Express will be delivering that to our planet today in fact."

"Just how fast can something be built in this era?" asks Keiko.

"Things like cemeteries can be built in six hours max. Buildings are usually constructed in half a day or more," informs Leela, "Rapid construction is common in this era, especially with robot laborers."

The monitor behind Porso continues to show the sun continuing to spread, consuming planets one by one. Probes continue to pull back rapidly, still recording the events unfolding. Suddenly the sun stops its growth. The probes continue to pull away, as though sensing an ominous demise.

"Wha…what's it doing now?" shivers Keiko.

"What do you mean?" asks Porso.

"Your sun? It's stopped growing."

Glab turns to see the old Porkonian sun. "That's the final stage. It's reached the maximum limit. This is what the death of a star looks like."

"I just can't believe this," sighs Porso. "This is it. My old home, it's just disappearing." Porso stands from his seat.

"Porso, what's the matter?" asks Glab, "Where are you going?"

"I can't…I'm as old-fashioned as Mr. Minamino is about crying. Can't do it with everyone watching."

"Porso, we're with you," assures Leela. She disappears from her seat and reappears on the platform in front of Porso.

"H…how did you get up here so fast?" asks Porso.

"She's as fast as I am," answers Hiei, "I've been helping her get that fast."

"Ringwald, cover for me. Sit in my spot, if you like. I can't just do this in front of anyone."

"Is this about pride? What are you ashamed of?" asks Kurama, "What makes you not want to cry? I couldn't cry in front of you because we had just rescued Ariaco and I was overwhelmed by the status of your planet and the plight of your people. This Super Nova is beyond what I can imagine. I've never seen something like this before and I can't grasp the notion of having something like the threat of a sun dying and becoming a black hole. I can only visualize what would it'd be like if Earth was having this as a constant threat."

"The rest of the clan is safe, right?" asks Glab. Porso nods. "So like Mr. Minamino said if it was my planet, if Amphibios 9 was under this sort of threat, I'd be like you. Watching my sun die would tear me up. I'd want to find someplace else for my people. I'd be crying too, if I didn't have a home to go back to. I can't visualize too well having to live with Amphibios 9 dying like this. The on-going extinction of my citizens, like if Kiff were to die, his tadpoles, Kafuku and our tadpoles, I'd be beside myself."

Leela escorts Porso back to his chair and embraces him. "So many years ago, Porko 09 was a lush planet. The river where my brothers and I would play as piglets, 36 years ago, was warm with large fields of grass. We'd watch the rabbits nestle in the reeds. Mama would call us for dinner when it got late. The skies were a brilliant blue back then. These red fish populated the water. We'd catch them with fishing rods. Twenty years later, the climate of the planet changed drastically. Almost all the animal life went extinct. The gravity of the planet was becoming unstable. Still the idea of moving to another planet was too far-fetched of an idea. Many of our citizens felt compelled to remain with the planet. This was our home after all. We were so comfortable living here. It wasn't until two years ago when our population started dwindling. Whole neighbors became graveyards. We tried to locate a new planet. The Omicron system is only 500 light years from us. Lrrr's sun is healthy. We asked him if we could borrow one of his planets. He objected to our plea, even threatened to kill us. Then we tried to find somewhere else. Planet Express came to us with food and medical supplies. After doing that, I sent a scout to follow them. He saw their planet Earth and recorded everything about it."

"Did you seek to concur it then?" asks Marc Seyer.

"After my scout reported all that he had seen, I went to Earth myself to see what it was all about. I found it to be so lush. Just the way Porko 09 used to look. Then my scout searched on to try to find a planet similar to Earth. He flew his spacecraft on about 500 light years to this brand new solar system. There was this planet that looked very much like Earth with very similar plant and animal life that both Earth and Porko 09 had. I wanted to see this place myself, but then the Nimbus blocked my ship. I asked Branaggan to let me by to see the planet, but he said no, said it was against the interplanetary laws to do so. He threatened to have me impeached and let my people die with the planet. I went back home to bring my soldiers, to defeat this law. Maybe by attacking Earth, he'd get the message."

"That was last year you did that," recalls Fry. "You threatened to eat us. I was almost killed and eaten too by your men."

"We have no taste for human meat. I don't think my soldiers would have actually eaten you. The threat was coming from Lrrr. He said if we didn't make that threat, you wouldn't hear us out."

"But you threatened us just the other day."

"Again from Lrrr. At that point, I had rounded up all the remaining members of my Porkonians, 15,425 to be precise. Just that many were still alive. I had already moved our elders six months ago to the Sunset Squad planet for safety sake. Some of the piglets, especially the youngest ones are there too. Once again we were forced to declare war on you. I didn't want that, to have my soldiers die. Kiff wanted us to be allowed to move to the new planet, but Zapp still wasn't budging. He ordered us to turn around and go home. Threatened to blow up my mothership if we disobeyed. I couldn't do that. That would mean death. Total annihilation of my clan if I did that."

"That's when we helped you," sighs Kurama, "So what Leela did was save your race by reading that POWs mind. Then we saved you with finding Ariaco with that probe of hers. We saw other DOOP probes searching the planet like hers was."

"I understand now why you want to name countries after us," replies Shizuru, "Naming countries after us is your way of thanking us."

"Didn't know how else to. What can I give my Porkonian saviors in return? The most honorable thing for me would be to name either cities or countries after you. Because of you 21st centurions, because of Leela here, my people have a new home and a good chance of survival. That's all I wanted. A new place to call our home."

"What about eating popplers? Lrrr said you ate their young," replies Glab.

"We've got poppler DNA in stock. Our farmers clone popplers for food. We eat the clones. Only source of food for us at the moment."

"This is what Arbu does," Yusuke reminds his group, "Arbu is a dog demon that eats human clones only. He harvests zombies and clones them for meat. That's how man-eaters keep from starving, especially the law-abiding ones."

"I just can't believe this. Who would have guessed at 36 years old, I would lose my home? The solar system is only eight billion years old. Is that too old for a solar system? I just can't…I feel like Rokanda hates me or something. The whole planetary system is being wiped out. Just like that, our once beautiful home has been swallowed by our dying sun. I've seen other Super Novas before, just never thought our sun would do this. If we went back, it'd be the true end. To be forced to die with our sun…" Tears stream down Porso's face. Leela kneels in front of Porso and embraces him, shielding him from onlookers with her own body. "I…I couldn't let that happen. I had to have this war, Glab. Do you blame me for it?"

Glab bites her beak and closes her eyes, trying to keep her own emotions in check. "I'm not blaming you. That's what I'd do if Amphibios 9 was in trouble. I'm sure Marc Seyer would be doing that for Earth."

"She's right, if I was in your shoes, I would make such my fellow Earthicans got out safe and found a new planet to live on."

"What about Branaggan's Law…"

"There's no law like that on DOOP's records. If Zapp somehow got the law on there without my knowledge or consent, I will have it abolished immediately. Those laws he cites are only oral laws. There's no law against moving from one planetary system to the next, especially when your system is on the verge of being destroyed."

Suddenly the sun pulls back and starts to swirl. "It's starting to fall. Think this is what the creation of a black hole looks like," surmises Kurama, leaning his elbows on the table, biting his right thumbnail.

"I believe you're right," sighs Fry. "I've seen my share of black holes in space but this the first time I've seen the creation of one."

"Would the Omicron system be far enough away?"

"They might feel some effect, but Lrrr's people are safe. They'll most likely see the star fade away," figures Fry, "If you look out the Headquarters here, look about 1000 light years out your right. You should see a really bright star."

Kurama glances out at the direction Fry is pointing. "I see it. That's the direction the ghosts were coming from. Okay, that star is what we're looking at on the monitor."

"We're far enough away not to be affected by anything. Earth's solar system and the new Porkonian system are on the opposite side of the galaxy of the old Porkonian system. They aren't going to be affected at all. Might not even see it."

"So these probes are in place to capture all of this. I still can't believe I'd see this. Never in my life did I think I'd see an actual destruction of a solar system and the collapse of a star this close. Can't believe the tales I'll be telling about how I spent my vacation to my colleagues at the hospital. 'Henderson, I was in the future looking at a star getting destroyed and I've got an alien son at home.' He'll think I'm lying."

Angelina looks on at the star with tears falling from her face. "What would your Koenma do if this happened?"

"Not sure. We came close to an apocalypse ourselves, but not like this," sighs Botan. "I'll certainly be showing this to him back in the 21st century. My watch is recording all of this, so he can see it. Maybe we can come up with a contingency plan if and when our sun does this. It might not be for billions of years though. Our solar system is 4.1 billion years old and has almost forever until it burns out."

The probes pull back further as the sun retreats and swirls into a whirlpool, drawing the planets along with it. Shizuru hugs Ariaco tightly, with tears flowing her face. "You'd be killed for sure had we never found you. You'd be sucked into that. I'd just hate to think had we come too late. You would be dead. Your king would be homeless. Your clan would have been extinct. I…just…" She rests her free arm on LaBarbara's back, sobbing hard. LaBarbara turns in her seat and embraces her.

"I know. It's difficult to see this. It's hard to watch someone going through an Armageddon like this. Not much you can do, well you've done what you could. Rescuing Ariaco is what you did."

"He'd be swept up in this thing if…today he'd be…I just can't imagine this type of hell for such an innocent life. Being crushed, his life being torn to sh…"

"I can't either, Shizuru, just can't. This is no way to die."

Keiko looks over at her friend, watching her fall to pieces in LaBarbara's arms. She tries to say something, but fails to do so and sighs heavily.

"You doing alright?" asks Yusuke, "You seem awful quiet."

"I just hate seeing Shizuru so broken-hearted over this. She's usually the one who's tight-lipped. I just don't know. I'm at a loss of words here. I can't begin to know just how painful it was."

"When she was at the cave, that family just hit her like that. We all saw them dead. Just…can't imagine myself. I don't think I could begin to fathom something like this. I'm having a hard time believing any of this is real."

"It is real though. Hard to prepare for something like this. I don't know what else. This is why I want to help these Porkonians out, help them rebuild. They deserve that at least. A chance to start over in a new world, that's why I want to help Fry's crew."

"Well this is the first time I've felt helpless about anything. I think defeating Ryuku would be much easier than this. I'd rather be fighting a demon than dealing with a star collapsing. I don't even know where to begin with this."

"You think Ryuku is easy? He's not easy," snorts Hiei.

"Would he cause our sun to collapse? Would he cause an entire ecosystem to crash? By doing this, it would mean his own life would suffer and he would die. Would he endanger himself like this?"

"I guess you've got a point. Maybe I'm having a hard time right now and this sun is adding to my frustration. I'm trying hard to grasp this concept. You're right, nothing a demon or dragon can do would compare to death and destruction of this magnitude." Hiei looks at the platform, looking at Leela consoling Porso.

"Are you going to be okay? You're all safe from this. It's as though the sun was waiting to make sure you guys were away from it all."

"Yeah, but still. I guess the memories of my old planet are all I have left. There certainly isn't anything left of it now. Just a black hole where it used to be."


End file.
